Congo's Ebola outbreak shows no signs of slowing as deaths top 3,000
[September 03, 2026]
By CONSTANT SAME BAGALWA and OPE ADETAYO
BUNIA, Congo (AP) — Congo’s Ebola outbreak has killed more than 3,000
people out of more than 6,100 confirmed cases, according to the latest
government data from Wednesday, as the disease is spreading at an
unprecedented speed, faster than efforts to track and slow it.
Data from Congo’s Ministry of Health showed the outbreak has recorded
6,186 confirmed cases, including 3,007 deaths since it was declared a
global health emergency in mid-May. It remains the fastest-growing
outbreak of Ebola ever.
Jean-Claude Angwanzia, a resident of Bunia, said that he left Mambassa
in the epicenter of Ituri province, because he didn’t feel safe. He said
that he hardly saw health workers and infected bodies were being
mishandled, prompting safety concerns.
“I had to flee the area because of the danger looming over us,” he said.
The pace of the outbreak is putting a strain on people's lives.
Papy Baraka, a public transportation driver in Bunia, has had to cut
down on the number of passengers he picks up in his car.
“The disease puts everyone at risk, and daily life has slowed to a
crawl. We are afraid,” he said.
Recent weeks have witnessed a surge in cases, with two new health zones
affected last week in North Kivu, where the fatality rate is much higher
than in the rest of the affected provinces. The virus has spread to six
provinces.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control said Tuesday in a report that the
efforts to contain the virus “remained below established response
targets” and the fast expansion of the disease across many health zones
indicates “uncontrolled expansion of the outbreak.”
The report said that the statistics show that most of the cases are
“occurring outside known transmission chains” as a result of the
percentage of confirmed new cases coming from only between 15% and 20%
of known contacts.
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Director-General of the World Health Organization, Dr. Tedros Adhanom
Ghebreyesus, said on Wednesday that there are chains of transmission the
health authorities are not aware of.
“Until every chain is found and broken, the epidemic will continue; And
it will continue to pose a threat to DRC, its neighbors, and the region
as a whole,” he said.
Health workers are struggling under difficult conditions and have gone
on strike multiple times to demand their pay.
The disease has continued to spread rapidly for several reasons,
including conflict in the eastern region of the country where the
outbreak is concentrated, attacks on health workers, miners constantly
on the move, and inadequate health infrastructure.
The resumption of school in the middle of the outbreak has also raised
concerns about transmission in classrooms.
The World Health Organization said that the outbreak is on track to
exceed the deadliest on record, West Africa's regional outbreak between
2014 and 2016, which killed 11,000 people.
The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that the
outbreak is possibly three times larger than the number of cases
recorded, as surveillance and contact tracing are still weak. Despite
that, the outbreak has already become Congo's deadliest Ebola outbreak.
There is no vaccine or approved treatment for the rare Bundibugyo virus
that has sparked the current outbreak. A couple of vaccines are being
developed to tackle the disease.
Last week, the government started the distribution of the Ervebo vaccine
to front-line health workers in Kisangani in the northeastern Tshopo
region. Ervebo has helped combat previous Ebola disease outbreaks, and
WHO said that it could offer some protection.
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Ope Adetayo reported from Lagos, Nigeria.
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