The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is on track to surpass history’s deadliest epidemic. World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that the 2026 crisis, driven by the rare Bundibugyo strain, could eclipse the devastating 2014-2016 West African outbreak as infections exceed 4,300 cases and deaths pass 2,000.
The epidemic sweeping through eastern Congo has already claimed more than 2,000 lives out of more than 4,300 recorded infections, according to figures outlined by the head of the World Health Organization. While health authorities officially declared the public health emergency on May 15, genomic sequencing indicates the virus began quietly spreading months earlier, taking root in February.
That invisible head start allowed the pathogen to outpace containment efforts. We are chasing the virus, the virus is ahead of us,
WHO Africa director Dr Mohamed Janabi told reporters at a news conference in Bunia, near the center of the outbreak. Early transmissions were frequently misdiagnosed as malaria or typhoid, delaying a coordinated public health response in a remote region plagued by infrastructure gaps.
The Rare Bundibugyo Strain Strains Response Capacity
Unlike recent epidemics driven by the Zaire species of the virus, the current crisis stems from the rare Bundibugyo strain. Prior to 2026, the Bundibugyo virus had been responsible for only two known outbreaks—in 2007 and 2012.
Crucially, the strain carries an alarming therapeutic void. The World Health Organization noted that unlike Zaire ebolavirus strains, there are currently no approved therapeutics or vaccines specifically designated to target the Bundibugyo virus. That absence leaves medical personnel relying on supportive care while racing to evaluate experimental tools.
The UK medicines regulator, the MHRA, recently granted permission for human trials of an investigational vaccine developed by a University of Oxford research team using technology adapted from the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. Three other groups are pursuing candidate vaccines, though none have yet advanced to clinical testing.
Funding Boost Accelerates Vaccine Trial Manufacturing
To speed up the delivery of clinical trial doses, The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) announced a financial commitment of up to $8.5 million. The funding supports a partnership with Hilleman Laboratories—a Singapore-based joint venture between MSD and the Wellcome charitable foundation—to manufacture trial doses using the recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus platform.
“No vaccine is currently approved against the virus, so we are urgently advancing vaccine candidates into testing. Built on the rVSV platform used in the licensed Zaire ebolavirus vaccine and supported by established manufacturing expertise from Hilleman and MSD, this vaccine candidate could become an important tool for Bundibugyo outbreak control and response.”
Dr Richard Hatchett, Chief Executive Officer of CEPI
Simultaneously, clinical trials evaluating two experimental treatments began in Ituri Province, the epicenter of the epidemic, operating under WHO sponsorship and in coordination with Congolese national authorities.
Regional Conflict and Misinformation Hamper Field Operations
Contending with the virus requires navigating severe geopolitical and social hurdles. The outbreak is concentrated in eastern Congo near the borders of South Sudan, Uganda, and Rwanda—a territory marked by ongoing regional conflict and poor infrastructure.
Health workers are currently able to reach only about 30% of cases, according to WHO officials. Compounding the operational strain, some local health workers have staged strikes over unpaid wages, while community distrust and circulating misinformation keep symptomatic individuals away from clinics.
While the WHO has set an ambitious goal to bring transmission under control within three months, officials emphasized that achieving this milestone would not signal an immediate end to the epidemic itself.