Congo says 2,000 people have died in its Ebola outbreak, the fastest
growing on record
[August 11, 2026]
BUNIA, Congo (AP) — At least 2,000 people have died among the
confirmed cases in Congo’s Ebola outbreak that is the fastest growing on
record, according to the latest government data, as health authorities
struggle to get help quickly to remote localities due to rebel conflict,
bad roads and work stoppages over payment issues.
Data published overnight into Tuesday showed the outbreak has recorded a
total of 4,381 confirmed cases, including 2,011 deaths. A total of 704
patients are in admission and isolation.
The grim toll comes nearly three months since the outbreak was declared
on May 15. While it took about nine weeks for the outbreak to record
1,000 deaths, it’s taken just around three weeks to record the
additional 1,000 deaths, showing how fast the health crisis is moving
beyond the control of responders.
It's already the second-largest outbreak in history, only behind the
2014-2016 West Africa outbreak that recorded more than 28,000 cases
including over 11,000 deaths.
Aid workers say the outbreak continues to outpace response that’s been
expanding across the five provinces affected. Many health workers have
gone on strike to protest lack of payment for their work since the
outbreak was declared. And most new cases are recorded outside of
contacts being monitored.
The Ebola outbreak is unlike most previous ones because the rare
Bundibugyo virus responsible for it has no approved vaccines or
treatments. Clinical trials for those have begun in Ituri, the epicenter
of the outbreak.
[to top of second column]
|
A health worker in protective gear looks on at an Ebola treatment
centre in Bunia, Congo, Monday, Aug. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Dieudonne
Dirole)
 The World Health Organization said
on Monday that the outbreak likely started in February, long before
authorities detected it in one of Congo’s most remote and vulnerable
areas. WHO said some cases early on were wrongly attributed to
malaria and typhoid, and that early testing was conducted for the
more common type of Ebola.
The WHO regional director for Africa, Dr. Mohamed Yakub Janabi, told
a news conference that officials are “chasing the virus, the virus
is ahead of us.”
The first Ebola virus to be identified was in 1976 near the Ebola
River in what is now Congo. The current outbreak is the 17th — and
largest — the Central African nation has faced.
All contents © copyright 2026 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
