Congo's Ebola outbreak is the country's largest on record, surpassing the 2018-2020 outbreak, which recorded 3,481 cases, and it is the second largest globally. Only the 2014-16 West Africa epidemic was larger, with 28,616 cases across Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Ebola disease is a severe, often-fatal virus that causes fever, body aches, vomiting and diarrhoea, and spreads through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected persons, contaminated materials or persons who have died from the disease, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
This is the Democratic Republic of Congo's (DRC) 17th outbreak since its discovery in 1976.
As of September 26, Congo had recorded 7,890 confirmed cases and 3,799 deaths, with a crude case fatality ratio of 48.1%, according to the World Health Organization.
A look at the Ebola cases that unfolded from May 2026:
The Democratic Republic of Congo officially declared its 17th Ebola outbreak after laboratory tests confirmed the Bundibugyo virus in Ituri province.
WHO said eight of 13 samples tested in Kinshasa were positive. By then, 246 suspected cases and 80 deaths had been reported across three health zones in Ituri.
Uganda also reported Ebola cases linked to travel from Congo, prompting heightened surveillance across the border.
The WHO Director-General declared the Ebola outbreak in Congo and Uganda a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), citing the risk of international spread and the difficult security and humanitarian situation.
Health authorities tightened screening in Goma after a confirmed case was detected in the eastern city, while an American citizen who contracted Ebola in Congo was transferred to Germany for treatment.
WHO warned that the risk of the Bundibugyo outbreak becoming a national outbreak had risen to “very high”, as transmission continued amid insecurity, population movement and difficulties in tracing contacts.
Health workers transported the body of a baby who died from Ebola at a hospital in Mongbwalu. The child had been born to an infected mother and subsequently contracted the virus.
In the days that followed, Congo saw a series of high-risk burials, including that of a doctor who had treated Ebola patients.
Safe burials became a crucial part of the response because people who die from Ebola can remain infectious after death. WHO has identified contact with the bodies of Ebola victims as a route of transmission.
In Kenya, hundreds of people protested against plans for a quarantine facility for Americans exposed to Ebola. Police shot dead one protester during the demonstrations, according to Reuters reporting.
The protests showed how anxiety over the outbreak was spreading beyond the countries directly affected by transmission.
An angry crowd attacked Nyakunde Hospital in eastern Congo after the death of an Ebola patient, forcing patients and health workers to flee.
Similar attacks on Ebola treatment facilities and response teams highlighted another challenge for health authorities: community mistrust was making an already difficult outbreak harder to contain.
By late July, Uganda declared itself Ebola-free after recording 20 cases and two deaths.
UN officials warned that the epidemic was expanding rapidly, with cases doubling roughly every 20 days at that stage.
Officials also highlighted a particularly dangerous trend: many deaths were occurring in communities rather than treatment centres, increasing the risk of transmission to family members and caregivers.
Congolese authorities intercepted a boat carrying around 200 people to Kinshasa after a passenger who had previously disembarked died with symptoms consistent with Ebola.
The incident underscored the difficulty of controlling transmission in a country where people frequently move between regions.
By August 26, Congo had recorded 5,794 confirmed cases and 2,786 deaths. The outbreak had expanded to 60 health zones across six provinces, with Ituri remaining the epicentre and North Kivu reporting increasing transmission.
By September 7, confirmed cases had risen to 6,757, including 3,267 deaths.
The outbreak had spread to 61 health zones across six provinces, with Ituri still accounting for the largest share of cases and North Kivu experiencing a significant rise in transmission.
The outbreak expanded into Sud-Ubangi, making it the seventh affected province.
By September 13, Congo had recorded 7,258 confirmed cases and 3,510 deaths, according to WHO.
By September 23, Congo had recorded 7,890 confirmed cases and 3,799 deaths, with a crude case fatality ratio of 48.1%.
Ituri remained the epicentre with 6,032 cases, while North Kivu had become the second-most affected province with 1,480 cases. WHO said North Kivu also had the highest case fatality ratio in the country, at 59.7%.
The outbreak expanded to 63 health zones across seven provinces after new cases were identified in Bulu in Sud-Ubangi and Dungu in Haut-Uélé, which borders South Sudan.
WHO warned that the latest geographic expansion increased the risk of cross-border transmission.
The scale of the outbreak has now surpassed Congo's previous largest Ebola epidemic, which recorded 3,481 cases in 2018–2020.
The 2026 outbreak is now the second-largest Ebola epidemic on record globally, behind the 2014–16 West Africa epidemic. WHO has described it as the largest Ebola outbreak ever reported in the DRC.
The outbreak is concentrated in eastern Congo, where conflict, insecurity, displacement and limited access to healthcare have complicated surveillance, contact tracing, treatment and safe burials.
WHO has also warned that a high proportion of deaths are occurring in communities rather than treatment centres. Delays in identifying and treating patients can allow transmission to continue within households, communities and healthcare facilities.
What began in May as Congo's 17th Ebola outbreak has grown into its largest Ebola epidemic on record.
And the outbreak remains active.
(With agency inputs from Reuters)