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4w ago

DR Congo’s Bundibugyo Ebola Outbreak Remains Massive After Mid‑August Peak

U.N. and WHO officials warn that uneven drops in cases plus security and funding shortfalls mean full control will likely take months.

Members of the civil protection team's dignified and safe burial service disinfect themselves after handling the remains of a one-year-old child suspected of having died from Ebola, at the Butembo Unit Hospital morgue, in Butembo, North Kivu province, Democratic Republic of Congo, September 13, 2026. Picture taken with a mobile phone. REUTERS/Gradel Muyisa Mumbere
Members of a civil protection team tasked with safely burying people suspected of having died from Ebola attend a daily briefing before deploying to the field to handle bodies, collect samples and disinfect the remains of people suspected of having died from Ebola, in Butembo, North Kivu province, Democratic Republic of Congo, September 13, 2026. REUTERS/Gradel Muyisa Mumbere
Members of the civil protection team's dignified and safe burial service disinfect after handling the remains of a one-year-old child suspected of having died from Ebola, at the Butembo unit hospital morgue in Butembo, North Kivu province, Democratic Republic of Congo, September 13, 2026. Picture taken with a mobile phone. REUTERS/Gradel Muyisa Mumbere
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Overview

  • The DRC reported 7,258 confirmed cases and 3,510 deaths on Tuesday, making this the country’s deadliest Ebola outbreak and the second‑most lethal on record worldwide.
  • Health authorities say cases fell from about 120 a day at the mid‑August high point to roughly 80 but the decline is patchy with new growth in hotspots such as North Kivu.
  • Response systems are strained because contact tracing is well below targets, many treatment beds are full and staff shortages and unpaid wages have prompted strikes that disrupt care.
  • There is no licensed vaccine or proven specific treatment for the Bundibugyo virus so researchers are using Zaire‑strain vaccines under special protocols while Bundibugyo candidates enter trials.
  • If gaps in security, surveillance and funding are not closed, officials warn the outbreak could spread further and will require thousands more workers, hundreds more beds and sustained international financing to bring under control.