Ebola Outbreak in DRC Surpasses 300 Deaths as Cases Surge

By Al Mayadeen English

Source: News websites

26 Jun 2026 20:34

Ebola deaths in the Democratic Republic of Congo rise above 300 as infections surpass 1,100, with the Bundibugyo strain outbreak spreading across conflict-hit eastern provinces.

The Ebola epidemic has claimed more than 300 lives in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), health authorities said on Friday, little over one month after the outbreak was officially declared.

According to the National Public Health Institute (INSP), a total of 304 people in the DRC have now died from the virus, out of 1,155 confirmed infections recorded since the outbreak was first detected on May 15.

The current figures represent a significant jump from the previous tally released on June 18 by the African Union's health agency, which reported 202 deaths from 875 confirmed infections. That earlier count had placed the mortality rate at 23 percent, but the new data push that figure to 26.3 percent.

The steep rise in both cases and deaths over a single week has alarmed regional health officials, who warn that the epidemic is still accelerating.

The Red Cross issued a stark warning last week, stating that the haemorrhagic fever outbreak has yet to reach its peak and could take up to a year to bring under full control. This forecast underscores the prolonged and resource-intensive effort required to contain the virus, especially given the complex humanitarian and security environment in the affected regions.

In a rare piece of positive news, DRC authorities announced in early June that several Ebola patients had been treated and successfully cured, offering a glimmer of hope amid the grim statistics.

Strain-specific challenges and lack of approved treatments

Responders to the epidemic face towering challenges, not least because no approved vaccines or treatments currently exist for the Bundibugyo strain of the virus responsible for this latest outbreak. This particular strain, while considered less lethal than the Zaire strain that plagued West Africa in 2014–2016, still presents a formidable public health threat due to the absence of licensed medical countermeasures.

The DRC, already one of the world's poorest countries, must now mobilise scarce resources to combat a virus for which even experimental therapies remain limited in supply and distribution.

The three affected provinces in eastern DRC, Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu, have been plagued for three decades by conflict and mass displacement, further complicating the emergency response. Armed groups operate freely across large swathes of territory, making it dangerous for health workers to reach remote communities and track chains of transmission.

Population movements, driven by both violence and economic hardship, also favour the spread of the disease across porous borders and between densely populated displacement camps.

Healthcare facilities in the region, which often operate with limited resources, still lack basic equipment and supplies such as personal protective gear and chlorine for disinfection. Many clinics set up by the World Health Organization and other aid agencies are now close to full capacity, according to the country's public health agency.

At least 78 healthcare workers have been infected with the virus, and 18 have died, highlighting the grave occupational risks faced by frontline staff who continue to work under extreme duress.

Regional spread and international concerns

The outbreak has already spread beyond the DRC's borders into neighbouring Uganda, where containment measures have so far proven effective. Kampala has reported 20 confirmed cases nationwide, including two deaths since May 15, with most of those infected being Congolese nationals who travelled into Uganda for medical care, trade, or family visits.

Ugandan health officials have conducted aggressive contact tracing and ring vaccination campaigns where applicable, helping to limit secondary transmission within their territory.

On Wednesday, France reported the outbreak's first confirmed case of Ebola outside Africa – a Congolese doctor who had been working in the DRC for the international medical aid NGO ALIMA. The physician flew back to France while symptomatic, raising immediate concerns about international air travel and border screening protocols.

In response, Air France has suspended all flights to Kinshasa for several days, even though the World Health Organization has stated that there is minimal risk of the virus spreading widely in Europe and that no travel restrictions are currently warranted.

The WHO has reiterated that international borders do not need to be closed, emphasising that standard public health measures, including screening at airports, surveillance of incoming travellers, and rapid isolation of suspected cases, are sufficient to mitigate global spread.

However, the French case has reignited debate over the adequacy of health screening at departure points in outbreak zones, particularly given the DRC's limited infrastructure for detecting febrile travellers. Health ministers from neighbouring countries are scheduled to meet next week to coordinate cross-border surveillance strategies.

Epicentre in Ituri: conflict, displacement and under-reporting

The vast majority of cases in the DRC have been detected in Ituri province, a mineral-rich region that is plagued with unrest from a string of rival armed groups vying for control over gold and other resources.

Frequent population movements, both within the province and across its borders, favour the continued spread of the virus, making containment extraordinarily difficult. More than 91 percent of all infections have been registered in the provincial capital, Bunia, and more than 82 percent of all deaths have occurred there, according to INSP data.

Efforts to contain the virus have been ratcheted up in Ituri, with additional mobile testing units and isolation wards deployed to the area. Yet healthcare workers on the ground report that many communities remain deeply mistrustful of foreign aid teams and government officials, a legacy of decades of neglect and violent conflict.

Some families have demanded that hospitals hand over the bodies of their deceased relatives, not realising that touching an Ebola-stricken corpse puts them at severe risk of contamination, a practice that has historically fuelled secondary transmission chains.

The reluctance of some families to allow post-mortem examinations on victims is also leading to a significant underestimation of the number of cases, officials have acknowledged. Without proper testing of the deceased, many Ebola-related deaths go unrecorded, distorting the true scale of the epidemic and hampering resource allocation.