Health workers in parts of the DR Congo, badly hit by a deadly Ebola outbreak, launched a test vaccination programme on Saturday (September 20, 2026) to see if jabs designed for a different strain of the virus could prove effective in this case.

The operation, backed by the World Health Organization and the Doctors Without Borders (MSF) charity, will see 20,000 frontline health personnel given the Ervebo vaccination in the Ituri and North-Kivu provinces, in a study lasting up to a year.

The current Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of Congo has killed 3,639 people out of 7,541 confirmed cases, according to the latest figures from the country’s authorities. That is a fatality rate of 48.3%.

It is caused by the Bundibugyo strain of the virus, for which there is currently no approved vaccine or treatment.

The vaccination being rolled out as of this weekend was developed for use against the Zaire strain, and the study will determine how effective it might be against the Bundibugyo strain.

“We don’t know to what degree it might be effective against the Bundibugyo strain,” said Steve Ahuka, a Congolese official who is part of the health task force against the Ebola outbreak.

“It might offer a certain level of cross-protection against the Bundibugyo virus,” said Nana Mimbu, an MSF research coordinator.

While WHO officials have cited “encouraging signs” that transmission may be slowing, MSF warned on Friday (September 18, 2026) that there was no clear evidence that the epidemic was coming under control.

WHO experts have said that early data on the Ervebo vaccine, notably from animal trials, suggested it could offer some protection in the current outbreak.

The UN health agency said last month that 70,000 doses of the vaccine, developed by the pharmaceutical company Merck and produced in Germany, were to be sent to the DRC.

AFP journalists on Saturday (September 19, 2026) saw health workers in Bunia, the main city of Ituri province, receiving vaccinations.

More than 16,000 doses of the Ervebo vaccine arrived in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) late Friday (August 21, 2026), an AFP journalist saw, as the country faces its deadliest Ebola outbreak in history.

The DRC’s 17th Ebola outbreak, which has killed thousands of people, was declared on May 15 but is thought to have been spreading for several weeks prior.

It has hit regions in the north and east where the presence of the state is weak, health infrastructure is largely lacking and myriad armed groups have roamed for decades.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) announced on Thursday (August 20) that the DRC would receive 70,000 doses of the Ervebo vaccine, produced in Germany.

The vaccine, developed by the pharmaceutical company Merck, is approved against the Zaire strain of the virus, but not against the Bundibugyo strain currently circulating in the country.

WHO experts still do not know whether Ervebo protects humans against the Bundibugyo strain, but early data, notably from animal trials, suggest it could offer some protection.

The Ervebo vaccine “has already been used several times, and in particular on a very large scale during the 2018-2020 outbreak”, Samuel Roger Kamba, the DRC’s Minister of Health, told the press.

He was speaking on the tarmac of Kinshasa airport, where a batch of 16,250 doses was delivered by plane on Friday (August 21).

Of the 70,000 doses made available to the DRC, 20,000 are intended for a clinical trial, and 50,000 for “frontline and health workers” in the DRC, the WHO explained on Thursday (August 20).

The Ebola outbreak in the DRC has already caused 2,516 deaths among 5,290 confirmed cases, according to the latest data published by the Congolese authorities.

It “is growing exponentially”, warned Julien Harneis, the UN’s senior Ebola coordinator, on Friday (August 21).

This month, WHO vaccine experts recommended a full-scale human trial of Ervebo, the only existing approved Ebola vaccine, to see if it offered cross-protection against the Bundibugyo strain.

Two vaccines specifically targeting the Bundibugyo strain are in clinical trial phases: one is being developed by the U.S.-based group Moderna, which uses mRNA technology, and the other by Britain’s University of Oxford.

In addition, an “rVSV Bundibugyo” vaccine, described by the WHO as “the most promising”, is to be developed by Singapore-based Hilleman Laboratories.

Ebola, which is transmitted through contact with bodily fluids and causes fever, has killed more than 15,000 people in Africa over the past 50 years.

Democratic Republic of Congo said on Tuesday (August 11, 2026) that confirmed Ebola deaths had reached 2,011, the latest grim milestone in what health ‌officials have described as the fastest-spreading outbreak on record.

The current outbreak, Congo’s 17th, is caused by the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, for ​which there are no ‌approved vaccines or treatments.

The World Health Organization has declared the outbreak, which has also led to cases in neighbouring Uganda, a public health emergency of international concern.

A study ‌published last month in the journal Science found ​that transmission may have begun in January or earlier in Ituri province, identifying more than 500 ⁠suspected cases between mid-January and May 15.

Shortages of medical supplies and insecurity in affected areas have complicated efforts to trace ‌contacts, isolate patients and curb transmission.

The Congolese government data shows that only West Africa’s 2014 to 2016 Ebola outbreak was bigger, with 28,616 cases and 11,310 deaths recorded across Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, according to the World Health Organization. It took nearly five months from the declaration ‌of that outbreak to hit 1,000 deaths, whereas Congo’s current outbreak ​has hit 2,000 deaths in less than three months.

In an Ebola outbreak in Congo from 2018 to ⁠2020, it took a little over 12 months to hit ⁠2,000 deaths. In the current outbreak, deaths have jumped from 1,000 to 2,000 in less than ‌a month, further underscoring how quickly the virus is spreading.

No cases of Ebola have been detected among passengers on a river boat that was placed in quarantine near Kinshasa, health authorities have said.

The confirmation announced on Saturday (August 8, 2026) eased concerns that the rare Bundibugyo virus might spread to the Congolese capital.

More than 200 boat passengers were placed in quarantine on Thursday (August 6) in the port of Maluku, 65 kilometres (40 miles) from Kinshasa, after one traveller who was previously aboard the boat died with symptoms matching the Ebola virus.

Specialist teams from the Ministry of Health were deployed to Maluku to examine all of those on board. Those exhibiting suspicious symptoms had samples taken and sent to a laboratory for analysis, the Ministry said on Saturday (August 8), adding that the vessel was also decontaminated.

The National Institute of Biomedical Research, which is responsible for testing, said that all suspected cases tested negative for Bundibugyo. It urged the population of Kinshasa to remain calm.

Congo has been battling an Ebola outbreak that has been deemed the fastest in history in terms of transmission, with confirmed cases since it started in May reaching 4,200, including over 1,900 deaths.

The riverboat passenger had become sick and disembarked nearly three weeks ago in Pimu, in the province of Mongala, more than 1,000 kilometres from Kinshasa along the Congo River, Africa CDC Director-General Jean Kaseya said on Thursday (August 6). The capital has no confirmed Ebola case, he added.

News of the passenger’s death caused panic in Kinshasa, which is far from the eastern region hit by the outbreak, the second-largest outbreak on record, behind the 2014-2016 West Africa outbreak that recorded more than 28,000 cases, including over 11,000 deaths.

Ebola is highly contagious and spreads through contact with bodily fluids such as vomit, blood or semen, and with contaminated surfaces and materials such as bedding and clothing.

Health authorities say between 60% and 70% of new cases in the current outbreak are recorded outside of contacts being monitored, and that the outbreak is spreading at an “alarming” rate faster than efforts to track it.

The medical charity Doctors Without Borders said this week that the outbreak is still “spreading at an alarming and unprecedented rate” and that the response, which has been expanding, “is still not reaching communities quickly enough to break transmission chains.”

A treatment trial for the Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak in ​the Democratic Republic of Congo enrolled its first patient on Thursday, July 2, 2026, marking ‌a milestone in efforts to combat the epidemic, World Health Organization chief ​Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters.

Dr. Tedros, however, cited an ⁠attack on an Ebola treatment centre in Ituri province in which two people died as a sign of ongoing difficulties in tackling the spread of ‌the disease.

“Despite all this progress, we continue to face significant challenges, including mistrust and violence,” the WHO director-general said.

There are ‌currently no approved vaccines or treatments for Ebola’s Bundibugyo strain, ‌which ⁠has caused more than 1,400 cases in DRC, including 438 ⁠deaths. DRC has recorded an average of 38 new confirmed cases a day over the past two weeks, Dr. Tedros said.

The trial, which could take months to complete ​and includes more than 1,000 patients, ‌will evaluate Mapp Biopharmaceutical’s experimental MBP134 antibody as a standalone treatment for Bundibugyo Ebola, as well as in combination with Gilead Sciences’ antiviral drug remdesivir, the WHO said.

There are enough drug ‌supplies for the trials, according to the WHO, which said ​it was in discussions with the United States, which donated supplies of MBP134, and Gilead to ensure patients would ⁠be able to access the drugs after the trials if they are
shown to be safe and effective.

Gilead said on July 2 that it has ‌donated more than 2,000 vials of remdesivir for the trial, in addition to the 2,000 vials it provided for emergency use in June.

The WHO chief also said other parts of the response were showing improvement: there are now 10 laboratories that can test for Ebola and follow-ups are being conducted for four in five contacts, although ‌more contacts still needed to be identified per case.

Treatment capacity has also expanded, ​with 650 beds available, of which about 96% are currently occupied. Dr. Tedros said the WHO and its partners were ⁠working to add 300 additional beds.

The ‌number of ​confirmed Ebola cases in the ‌Democratic ‌Republic ‌of ⁠Congo ⁠has increased to 1,333, ​including 399 deaths, government data showed ‌on Tuesday (June 30, 2026).

The cases ⁠were recorded in ‌the eastern provinces of ‌Ituri, North Kivu ​and South ⁠Kivu.

Possible Ebola spread to two new province

Congolese health authorities are tracing people potentially exposed to Ebola in two provinces ​not previously affected by the latest outbreak, amid fears the ‌virus could spread further, a Health Ministry report ​and a senior health official said.

The outbreak, ⁠declared on May 15, has so far infected 1,333 people and killed 377 across the eastern provinces of Ituri, North ‌Kivu and South Kivu, according to government data released on Monday.

In Tshopo province, health ‌workers are tracing people who may have been ‌exposed ⁠to the body of a pregnant ⁠woman who died of Ebola in Ituri’s Niania health zone, according to a health ministry report dated June 29 and reviewed ​by Reuters.

The woman fell ‌ill on June 18 and died on June 27, the report said. Her body was transported by motorcycle about 300 km west to the city ‌of Kisangani in neighbouring Tshopo province, where a ​sample taken at a morgue tested positive for Ebola.

The report said the body’s ⁠journey through several health zones before the diagnosis was made created a high risk of transmission. Authorities have ‌launched contact-tracing efforts across the province.

Separately, a senior health official, who asked to remain anonymous as he is not allowed to brief the media, told Reuters that two people identified as contacts of Ebola cases in Niania and who had been placed ‌in isolation for testing, had fled to Haut-Uele province.

Like Tshopo, ​Haut-Uele neighbours Ituri. It also shares borders with South Sudan and the Central African Republic.

One ⁠of the two tested positive for Ebola, the ⁠official said, while the second was awaiting a confirmatory test. Both have since been located and ‌are being returned to Niania, he said, while health teams trace anyone they may have encountered ​in Haut-Uele.

Emphasising the need for preparedness measures ahead of the next pandemic or global health emergency, experts at The Hindu’s webinar, ‘Ebola: Preparing for the Next Pandemic’, said there was an urgent need for better lab and testing infrastructure, for training and resources for healthcare workers, data to be shared across stakeholders and for trust to be built within communities to combat misinformation.

Parthesarathy Rajendran, executive director, Médecins Sans Frontières South Asia, dwelt on the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and neighbouring Uganda, explaining how cases shot up, why contact tracing remained a cornerstone of controlling infection spread, the need to work with communities to build education and awareness around infection protocols and prevention measures, and to ensure dignified burials for all patients.

Hamsadvani Kuganantham, consultant, WHO South-East Asia Regional Office; global health research manager, The Global Health Network, University of Oxford, stressed the need for countries, including India, to be part of preparedness protocols, to strengthen disease surveillance across the country, for data to be shared to allow for research to be carried out and the importance of incorporating the One Health Approach into public health measures.

Vijayalakshmi Balakrishnan, senior consultant in infectious diseases at Kauvery Hospitals, Chennai, explained how zoonotic infections were handled, clinically: from diagnosis to management, treatment and patient education.

She highlighted the need for data analytics from the State government that could help clinicians anticipate an outbreak or prepare for a surge in cases of a particular infection. She also stressed the need for patients to not self-medicate with antibiotics, as this was leading to the growing crisis of antimicrobial resistance.

The webinar was part of The Hindu’s Health Webinar Series. It can be viewed at: https://www.youtube.com/live/hWBBBCs5DqQ?si=orS_jRpixY0FeO9F

Kenyan police fired tear gas on Tuesday (June 9, 2026) and detained protesters demonstrating against a quarantine centre for Americans exposed to Ebola that the U.S. has raced to build despite Kenyan ⁠court orders barring further work.

The proposed 50-bed unit on an air force base has angered many Kenyans, who accuse the U.S. of offloading the risk of caring for those exposed to the Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and ‌Uganda. Two people were killed in protests last week in the central town of Nanyuki, where frustration has grown as Kenyan and U.S. authorities publicly reaffirm their commitment to the plan.

Police ‌fired tear gas to disperse small groups of protesters who had gathered again in the town, ‌which ⁠is next to the air force base, early on Tuesday (June 9, 2026). One protester carried a white cross ⁠emblazoned with the phrase “Respect Ebola” in red. A Reuters witness also saw officers round up six demonstrators and load them into police vehicles.

“We are not happy with the idea of establishing this Ebola facility here,” protester Bethwel Onyango, 24, told Reuters.

“Why would a government set up a facility to control ‌a disease we don’t have when they can’t deal with the ones ailing us?” U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has said it “cannot and will not allow” any cases to enter the U.S., unlike during the 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak in West Africa when several infected U.S. nationals were treated on U.S. soil.

Several U.S. ‌citizens have been exposed to Ebola in eastern Congo and Uganda, where there have been more than 500 confirmed cases and 100 confirmed deaths from the outbreak declared last month. Six, including one who tested positive for the disease, were moved to a medical facility in ⁠Germany last month, while another was taken to the Czech Republic.

The Nanyuki facility is designated for Americans who have been exposed to the virus but are still asymptomatic. Patients with symptoms would be sent to other countries, ‌U.S. officials have said.

Kenya says it is doing ‘the right thing’

A High Court judge has twice issued orders barring Kenya’s government from taking steps to build or begin operations at the site. Her latest order gave the government one week to disclose all agreements and operational protocols related to the facility.

Joshua Malidzo, a lawyer challenging the quarantine plan on behalf of the Katiba Institute legal advocacy group, said the court’s deadline expired on Monday (June 9, 2026) without the government complying. The Kenyan Government has not commented on the court’s order, and a government spokesperson did not ‌immediately respond to a request for comment. President William Ruto said last week that his administration was doing “the right thing” by establishing the facility.

U.S. military planes have continued to ferry in staff and equipment even after court orders blocking the plan, according to U.S. and diplomatic sources and flight tracking data, with several ⁠aircraft expected to land this week. Satellite imagery seen by Reuters shows an increasing build-up of white tents in ⁠the middle of a plot of land totalling around 0.046 sq. km (11 acres) cleared within the Laikipia Air Base since May 27.

The United States has said it is aware of the ‌court challenge and was “working with the Kenyan government to resolve any objections”. Shortly after the Kenyan government agreed to the quarantine plan, the U.S. said it would provide $13.5 million for Kenya’s Ebola preparedness effort.

Kenyan officials have said the facility would also serve Kenyans and foreign nationals, but U.S. officials have not confirmed this.

At least 100 people have died from Ebola less than a month after authorities declared an outbreak of the disease in eastern Congo, authorities said.

Attacks on health workers from angry residents, scepticism among some locals and armed conflict in hot spots continue to challenge efforts to stop the spread.

Also Read: On Ebola, India must stay alert, not alarmed

Out of the 550 cases of the disease confirmed as of Sunday (June 7, 2026), there have been 101 deaths and 19 recoveries, according to the latest situation report late on Monday (June 8, 2026). The number of cases, though, is believed to be higher because the outbreak was confirmed weeks late, and response has been challenging also because the virus has no approved vaccine or treatment.

The latest Ebola disease outbreak is caused by the rare Bundibugyo virus, which does not have an approved vaccine or treatment, unlike the Zaire virus responsible for most of Congo’s past 16 outbreaks of the disease.

The head of the World Health Organization on Monday (June 8, 2026) visited Uganda, where a deadly Ebola outbreak has killed two people after spreading from the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo.

The WHO has declared an international health emergency over the current outbreak, which was announced on May 15 in the northeastern DRC.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus recently also visited the DRC, which has seen 515 confirmed Ebola infections, including 91 deaths, according to the UN health agency.

“I am in Uganda, where the government has mounted a prompt and capable response to the outbreak of Ebola,” Mr. Tedros wrote on X.

“Screening at the borders helped detect cases arriving from neighbouring DRC, and the country’s surveillance, testing and case management systems are doing steady work,” he said.

The WHO chief, early on Monday (June 8, 2026), met a senior Ugandan health ministry official, a WHO spokesman in Geneva told AFP.

“Of the 19 confirmed cases so far, 14 were among people who entered from DRC and five are Ugandan nationals,” Mr. Tedros said on X.

“Sadly, two people from DRC have died, and our thoughts are with their families,” he added.

It is the 17th Ebola outbreak to hit the DRC, a vast central African country of more than 100 million people.

There is no specific vaccine or treatment for the Bundibugyo Ebola strain behind the latest outbreak.

Mr. Tedros said the WHO was supporting Uganda alongside the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and other partners across the region “as the country leads this response”.

“With continued collaboration, I am confident this outbreak can be brought under control,” he added.