The Rise of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Congolese Red Cross carry a suspected Ebola victim’s coffin during a safe burial in Bunia, June 2026. Courtesy of National Public Radio. 

Despite the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) declaring an Ebola outbreak on May 15, 2026, it’s likely that the virus was ongoing for months prior. Ebola disease was first identified in 1976, in what is now known as the DRC. Multiple viruses periodically emerged from an unknown animal host and continue to infect people in several African countries. The largest outbreaks come from three viruses: Ebola (Zaire), Sudan, and Bundibugyo. Ebola virus (Zaire) is the deadliest, with up to a 90% fatality rate if it goes untreated; it caused the 2014-2016 West Africa outbreak, the largest ever, with more than 28,600 cases and 11,308 deaths. However, the current outbreak is the Bundibugyo virus affecting the DRC and Uganda, with its first report in May 2026. 

The current Bundibugyo strain has no licensed vaccine or approved targeted treatment, so containment depends on finding cases fast, isolating the sick, and protecting health workers. The virus is extremely hard to contain as it spreads through bodily fluids from an infected person or contaminated animal; people aren’t infectious until they are symptomatic and most contagious in the late stages. Symptoms start with fever, weakness, muscle pain, headaches and sore throat. Next, a contagious patient could show signs of diarrhea, vomiting, and sometimes bleeding, however it takes up to 21 days to appear. The virus also stays contagious for up to three days after death, which makes burial practices a transmission risk. 

Decades of armed conflict in eastern DRC make it dangerous for response workers to reach affected communities. The fragile health systems, extreme poverty, and funding cuts have also left some facilities with almost no protective equipment. Fear, misinformation, and mistrust have led to citizens avoiding health facilities, so cases continue to stay hidden within communities. The DRC ranks 7th on the IRC’s 2026 Emergency Watchlist and has appeared on it for a decade. This doesn’t only affect those who contract the virus, but also those around them. Family members, caregivers and others in close physical contact with patients (including burial rituals), such as the frontline health workers, have been the most at-risk, with women and girls making up two-thirds of suspected cases. 

This current rise of Ebola in the DRC has been met with a strict response from health organizations and governments. Anyone who has been in the DRC within 21 days are restricted from boarding commercial flights to the U.S., Americans included. Travelers from Uganda or South Sudan must enter through designated airports for enhanced screening, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) say to avoid all travel to Ituri and North Kivu, as well as avoiding nonessential travel to Haut-Uele and Tshopo. 500 CDC staff are involved, including more than  120 members deployed to affected countries. The World Health Organization also declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. There are now about 500 treatment beds and capacity for 2,000 tests daily. A decentralized testing network with rapid diagnostics returns results within about one hour. 

In about five months, more than 9,000 confirmed cases and over 4,300 deaths have made this Ebola outbreak the second-largest one on record, with nearly half of confirmed patients declared deceased. It has spread to seven provinces, including densely populated cities and major transit hubs, with most new cases appearing outside known chains of transmissions. Additionally, many people are dying at home rather than in treatment centers. This strain has passed 1,000 confirmed cases within 40 days of response activation compared to 235 days for the outbreak in 2018. Countries other than the DRC with confirmed cases are Uganda, Kenya, and France, however they have only had one to two confirmed cases with patients released and recovered. 

Outbreaks like this impact livelihoods well beyond the patients. Markets can close, farming and trade slow, and travel restrictions cut off income in regions already facing extreme poverty. There is also a strain on health systems as resources used to fight Ebola are pulled from routine care such as maternal health, malaria, and childhood vaccinations. Many of the frontline workers and family caregivers are women and girls, who are among those who face the highest risk. Cases in Uganda, Kenya, and France along with U.S. flight restrictions and screening, show how quickly an outbreak in one region becomes an international concern.