Bundibugyo virus outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo becomes the deadliest Ebola epidemic in the country's history

26 October 2026

The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, caused by the Bundibugyo virus, has become the deadliest in the country's history. United Nations and World Health Organization figures put the outbreak at more than 9,760 cases and about 4,727 deaths since it was declared on 15 May, with eight provinces affected: Bas-Uele, Haut-Uele, Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu, Sud-Ubangi, Tshopo and Nord-Ubangi. There is no approved vaccine for the Bundibugyo virus. United Nations Senior Ebola Response Coordinator Julien Harneis condemned an attack in which a nurse responding to an Ebola alert was killed at Bafwasende in Tshopo province and called for a thorough investigation. Dr Mohamed Janabi, WHO Regional Director for Africa, spoke of the recovery of a patient in Nigeria as an achievement for the regional response. This is the seventeenth Ebola epidemic recorded in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.