Congo's Largest Ebola Outbreak Tops 5,000 Cases as Death Toll Exceeds 2,300
Learn why a rare type of Ebola is spreading so quickly in Congo and what makes the outbreak difficult to contain.
On August 18, 2026, burial teams in protective gear buried two young children in Bunia, eastern Congo, who had tragically died from Ebola. The number of confirmed infections rose to 5,021 and deaths to 2,378 as of August 16. The outbreak has surpassed the 2018-2020 epidemic as Congo's worst, ranking second globally behind the 2014-2016 West Africa outbreak.
The Bundibugyo strain, identified in Uganda in 2007, is believed to be responsible for the epidemic. It crossed the 1,000 case mark within 40 days, compared to Congo's 2018 outbreak which took about 235 days.
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