Ebola has killed more than 2 000 people in DR Congo, with confirmed cases surpassing 4 000

The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has killed 2 011 people, with a total of 4 381 confirmed cases of the virus.

Reuters writes about this.

Cases of the virus have been reported in five provinces. Health officials are calling the current Ebola outbreak, now in its 17th year, the fastest-spreading in history.

This is due to the fact that there is currently a shortage of medical supplies in regions where Ebola is spreading, and it is also difficult to track the contacts of people who have already been confirmed to have the virus.

As of August 6, only 3 973 cases and 1 801 deaths from Ebola were known.

Ebola outbreak in DR Congo

The first human case of Ebola virus disease was reported in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1976. The mortality rate during the first outbreaks was as high as 90%. Thanks to the advent of the Ebola-Zaire strain vaccine, this figure has been reduced to almost 40%.

The largest outbreak of the Ebola virus in terms of the number of infected people occurred in West Africa from 2014 to 2016. The number of victims then exceeded 11,000.

On May 17, 2026, the WHO announced a new outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda (at that time, 80 deaths were reported). The organization called the epidemic a public health emergency of international concern.

At the same time, WHO advised countries neighboring the DR Congo to activate their national disaster and emergency management mechanisms, as well as conduct screening at borders and main internal roads.

The current outbreak is the 17th in the history of DR Congo, and experts warn it could be one of the largest ever, as the virus has been spreading undetected for some time.

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