The Democratic Republic of Congo is facing the largest Ebola outbreak ever recorded on its territory. According to the latest World Health Organization update published on August 3, 2026, the country now counts 3,748 confirmed cases, 1,657 deaths and 708 recoveries. The disease has now spread across 49 health zones in five provinces, including Ituri, Haut-Uélé and North Kivu, the latter partly under the control of the M23 armed group.
This marks the 17th Ebola outbreak the DRC has faced since 1976, and one of the most severe ever recorded worldwide. It’s caused by the Bundibugyo virus, a rare and little known Ebola strain for which no approved vaccine or specific treatment currently exists. The first cases were confirmed on May 14, 2026, after initial tests, which only screened for the Zaire strain of Ebola, wrongly came back negative, delaying the outbreak’s actual detection.
The pace of spread has outstripped anything seen in previous Ebola outbreaks. On June 16, the outbreak stood at 827 confirmed cases. Less than two months later, that number had more than quadrupled to 3,748 cases as of August 3. Médecins Sans Frontières describes the spread as comparable to a wildfire, and says resources remain insufficient to stop transmission, with treatment centers already running at full capacity.
In response, the health effort is scaling up, with new treatment centers opening, stronger epidemiological surveillance, and a bigger deployment of United Nations agencies on the ground. Despite this ramp up, the outbreak keeps gaining ground. The obstacles to an effective response remain largely structural, the region’s remoteness, persistent insecurity from dozens of armed groups active in the east of the country, and widespread disinformation that complicates the work of field teams. The Red Cross estimates the outbreak hasn’t yet peaked and could last a full year.
The disease has spread into neighboring Uganda, with cases confirmed notably in Kampala. An isolated case was also detected in France, in a patient returning from the DRC who developed symptoms during the flight, the first case of its kind diagnosed on French soil. The patient, whose viral load was low, recovered and was discharged in early July.
In the United States, entry restrictions have been in place since May 2026 for travelers coming from the DRC, along with certain travelers from Uganda and South Sudan, with case by case exceptions for humanitarian or law enforcement reasons. The World Health Organization has also classified this outbreak as a public health emergency of international concern, the highest level of global health alert.