The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has passed 11,000 cases, with 5,387 deaths, according to government figures released on Tuesday, making it the second-largest outbreak on record and the deadliest ever in the country.
The figures, from the DRC National Institute of Public Health, cover 11,042 confirmed cases and 5,387 deaths, with data running through 9 November. The outbreak is caused by the rare Bundibugyo strain of the virus, for which there is no approved vaccine and no specific treatment.
The case fatality rate stands at 48.8 per cent, meaning almost half of those infected have died. The outbreak was declared on 15 May 2026, the 17th in the country’s history, and the World Health Organisation declared it a public health emergency of international concern two days later.
The virus has spread to eight of the country’s 26 provinces, with the eastern province of Ituri as the epicentre, along with North and South Kivu, Tshopo, Haut-Uélé, Bas-Uélé, Sud-Ubangi and Nord-Ubangi. Cases have also been reported in Kenya and Nigeria.
It is now the second-largest and second-deadliest Ebola outbreak ever recorded, behind only the West Africa epidemic of 2014 to 2016, which caused more than 28,600 cases and over 11,000 deaths. No outbreak in the DRC itself has ever come close to this scale.
The response has been hampered by armed conflict in the east of the country, attacks on health workers and deep insecurity in the affected areas. Many deaths occur outside treatment centres, as sick people are unable or unwilling to reach care, and contact tracing is difficult in areas controlled by armed groups.
There is some hope on the vaccine front. A WHO-backed trial of the Tumaini vaccine began enrolling volunteers in Bunia, in Ituri province, on 23 October. The trial is testing two candidates, Oxford University’s ChAdOx1 vaccine, made with the Serum Institute of India, and Moderna’s mRNA-1469.
The Bundibugyo strain is rarer and less studied than the Zaire strain that caused the West Africa epidemic, and the lack of a licensed vaccine for it has made the response harder. Health workers have relied on isolation, safe burials and supportive care, the same tools that have contained outbreaks for decades.
The WHO and the Congolese government have appealed for more funding and for safe access to the affected areas, warning that the outbreak will not be brought under control while health teams cannot reach the communities where the virus is spreading.
For the people of Ituri and the other affected provinces, the milestone of 11,000 cases is a grim marker of an outbreak that has now been running for six months, with no end in sight, and with the health system in the east of the country under extraordinary strain.
