Congo’s fast-moving Ebola outbreak has now killed over 2,300 people and become the deadliest outbreak of the disease on record in the Central African nation.

The outbreak unfolding in one of Congo’s most vulnerable regions is the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak ever, with 4,945 cases including 2,325 deaths, according to government data released overnight into Monday (August 17, 2026).

This is Congo’s 17th and largest Ebola outbreak. The toll eclipses that of the country’s 2018-2020 outbreak when 2,299 deaths out of 3,481 cases were recorded.

The latest data shows 101 new cases and 33 deaths reported in the previous 24 hours. Over 1,000 people have recovered, while 730 remain in hospitals or isolation.

The outbreak has infected and killed more people at a greater speed than any other outbreak in history. The World Health Organization has said it is on track to surpass the 2014-16 Ebola outbreak in West Africa, the deadliest on record with more than 11,000 deaths.

There are no approved vaccines or treatments for the rare Bundibugyo virus responsible for the current outbreak across six provinces in Congo’s east. Trials for those are ongoing in Ituri province, the epicentre.

Most new cases and deaths are being reported outside of people being monitored. Challenges also include strikes by some unpaid health workers, threats by rebel groups, anger from long-traumatised communities, territories difficult to reach due to bad roads, and misinformation asserting that Ebola isn’t real.

WHO warned over the weekend that the outbreak is still moving at an “exceptional pace” ahead of efforts to track it, noting that it reached a weekly record of 579 cases and 304 deaths in the previous week.

“A substantial scaling up of response activities is underway to get ahead of the outbreak,” the agency said.

On Friday, United Nations humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher announced the allocation of an additional $30.5 million and the deployment of 20 more staff to aid the response on the frontlines.

“This is a wake-up call,” Mr. Fletcher said. “We need speed, scale and solidarity before this virus gets even further ahead of us.”

Africa’s top public health agency said on Friday (May 15, 2026) that there was a confirmed Ebola ‌outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo’s Ituri province, with 65 deaths out of ​246 suspected cases so far.

The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention ⁠said in a statement that it was convening an urgent meeting with Congo, Uganda, South Sudan and global partners to reinforce cross-border surveillance, preparedness and response efforts.

It said the deaths and suspected cases had been reported mainly ‌in the Mongwalu and Rwampara health zones, while four deaths had been reported among laboratory-confirmed cases. Suspected cases have also been reported in Bunia, the provincial capital.

The ‌agency said initial findings suggested the presence of a non-Zaire strain of the virus, ‌with ⁠sequencing ongoing to further characterise it.

Jean-Jacques Muyembe, the Congolese virologist who co-discovered Ebola and ⁠heads the National Institute for Biomedical Research in Kinshasa, told Reuters that all but one of Congo’s 16 previous outbreaks had been caused by the Zaire strain.

The identification of a different variant will complicate the response, he said, as existing ​treatments and vaccines were developed against the ‌Zaire strain.

“Africa CDC is concerned about the risk of further spread due to the urban context of Bunia and Rwampara” as well as “intense population movement” and mobility related to mining in the affected areas, which are close to Uganda and South Sudan, the agency ‌added.

“Given the high population movement between affected areas and neighbouring countries, rapid regional coordination ​is essential,” Africa CDC Director General Jean Kaseya said in the statement.

First samples confirmed positive on May 14, 202, WHO says

The World Health Organization learned of suspected cases ⁠on May 5 and dispatched a team to Ituri to help investigate, but samples collected in the field initially tested negative, WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a press briefing on Friday.

A laboratory in ‌Kinshasa confirmed positive cases on Thursday, and the total number of confirmed positive cases is now 13, Tedros said.

The WHO has released $500,000 from its contingency fund for emergencies to support the response, including surveillance, contact tracing, laboratory testing and clinical care, he said.

Ituri hit by militia clashes

The new outbreak is unfolding against the backdrop of a deepening security crisis in Ituri, where clashes between rival militia groups have killed scores of civilians in recent weeks.

The violence has worsened ‌an already dire humanitarian situation, leaving health facilities overwhelmed or non-functional in parts of the province, Medecins Sans Frontieres said ​earlier this month. The medical charity warned of catastrophic hygiene conditions in displacement sites, raising the risk of disease outbreaks. The outbreak is the 17th in Congo ⁠since Ebola was first identified there in 1976. The country’s most recent outbreak, in Kasai province, was declared ⁠over on December 1 after three months. Out of a total of 64 cases, 45 died and 19 others recovered.

Ebola virus disease is a severe and often ‌fatal illness that is endemic to Congo’s vast tropical forests. It spreads through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected persons, contaminated materials or persons who have died from the disease, ​the Africa CDC said.