Deaths from Congo’s Ebola outbreak have surpassed 5,000 as the virus continues to spread across multiple regions, the Congolese Ministry of Health reported Saturday. Since mid-May, the Bundibugyo strain has infected 10,351 people, resulting in 5,026 fatalities, reflecting a mortality rate close to 50 percent. To date, 2,788 patients have recovered.
This outbreak represents the second-deadliest Ebola crisis in history after the 2014–2016 West Africa epidemic, which caused approximately 11,000 deaths across several countries. Health officials are increasingly concerned about the authorities’ capacity to contain the disease amid ongoing challenges.
The Bundibugyo virus, unlike other Ebola strains, currently has no approved vaccine or specific treatment, and care is limited to symptom management. The infection has proliferated rapidly, affecting 67 of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s 178 health zones in eight provinces. The epicenters remain the eastern provinces of Ituri and North Kivu, which together account for 9,782 cases and 4,792 deaths. Of the 67 affected zones, 50 still report active cases.
Contact tracing and testing efforts have fallen short of expectations. The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that approximately 80 percent of new infections originate outside monitored contacts, highlighting extensive transmission chains unknown to health authorities. Additionally, nearly one-third of deaths occur outside treatment facilities, often before patients can be tested, complicating containment efforts.
“This is one of the biggest concerns for us in this outbreak: how to reach people early enough to get them to health facilities for a chance to survive,” said Dr. Patrick Otim of the World Health Organization.
Efforts to control the epidemic in eastern Congo face numerous obstacles, including ongoing armed conflicts involving groups such as the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels and the Islamist Allied Democratic Forces active near the Uganda border. These security issues restrict health workers’ access to affected communities and contribute to mistrust and hostility towards response teams. Attacks on health personnel and facilities have occurred, including the killing of a nurse responding to an Ebola alert last month and a government politician advocating for health interventions in September.
Labor disputes compound the crisis. Ebola treatment center staff have staged multiple strikes over delayed government payments, leading to service disruptions. On Friday, workers at a treatment center in Tchomia, Ituri, protested over four months of unpaid wages while treating five confirmed and 10 suspected Ebola cases. “Being able to feed our families has become a real problem,” said Moise Mugenyi, one of the striking employees. Officials have urged patience as the government addresses these financial concerns.
In other affected regions such as Beni, North Kivu, lack of fuel and funding has hampered response operations, intensifying the outbreak. Public official Alain Siwako expressed alarm over the rising cases linked to resource shortages.
The epidemic has also extended beyond Congo’s borders. Kenya and Nigeria both confirmed Ebola cases in October, with Kenya reporting eight cases and two deaths, and Nigeria evacuating its single confirmed case to Switzerland. Earlier infections in Uganda mean the current outbreak is the first continent-wide event recorded across three African regions, marking it as the most geographically widespread Ebola epidemic on record.