DRC: Ebola epidemic exceeds 10,000 cases and 4,887 deaths, the deadliest in its history

The Democratic Republic of Congo has crossed the threshold of 10,000 Ebola cases: 10,060 confirmed cases and 4,887 deaths since the epidemic was declared on May 15, 2026, according to data from the Ministry of Public Health published on October 27, 2026, and reported by Al Jazeera. Nearly one in two confirmed patients has died.

This is the fastest and deadliest Ebola epidemic in the country's history, and the second largest in the world after the 2014-2016 West Africa outbreak, which caused more than 11,000 deaths out of 28,600 infections. It took only five and a half months to spread from three provinces to 66 health zones across eight provinces.

A response chasing the virus

The most worrying signal is not the total, but the portion of the epidemic that no one sees coming: approximately 80% of new cases appear outside the transmission chains monitored by health authorities, according to Al Jazeera. The Africa CDC estimates that an epidemic is only under control when at least 95% of cases come from already known contacts. Another sign of the loss of control: at least half of the deceased individuals were never admitted to a healthcare facility.

Providing care is also costing lives. On October 25, 2026, a nurse was killed and a colleague was seriously injured in Bafwasende, in Tshopo, while responding to an alert, according to the WHO; its Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote that everyone must be able to work "in dignity and safety." In Nia Nia, in Ituri, unpaid bonuses since the end of August have led to a work stoppage by responders.

Fear spreads faster than information

In Beni, 27-year-old Zawadi Kavira Musubao lost four relatives, including her son, reports the AP agency cited by Africanews. When her sister died in August, a traditional medicine clinic told the family she had been poisoned. Her brother, Alphonse bin Kitobi Achou Taibo, a traditional chief of Bapakombe-Bakondo, eventually convinced a dozen relatives to go to the treatment center by explaining that one can come out alive. "At first, we refused," she remembers. After her house was decontaminated, her landlord evicted her.

A vaccine in testing, neighbors on alert

The Bundibugyo strain has no approved vaccine or treatment: the WHO launched the first clinical trial of a vaccine against it in Ituri on October 23, 2026. Uganda, which had 20 cases and two deaths this summer, has imposed a 21-day quarantine at the traveler's expense for its nationals returning from the DRC since October 25. Kenya has nine cases and two deaths, and Nigeria is the fourth African country affected.

The epidemic is also killing outside of itself: in some provinces, maternal deaths doubled shortly after it was declared, as the health system is being absorbed by the response.