Ebola outbreak worsens in eastern DRC

What's happened

The Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has infected about 1,926 people and caused 702 deaths, with cases now reported in North Kivu, South Kivu, Tshopo and Haut‑Uele. WHO has warned the real caseload could be two to four times higher; contact tracing is incomplete and frontline health workers have struck over unpaid pay.

What's behind the headline?

What is actually happening

• Transmission is accelerating at the epidemic's heart in Ituri. WHO officials have said roughly 80% of new cases come from unknown chains, which means infections are occurring outside tracked contact lists and community deaths are common.

Why containment is failing now

• Contact tracing is failing because conflict, displacement and mining-related movement are scattering potential contacts across provinces. Health teams are struggling to find and follow up thousands of contacts.
• Funding shortfalls have starved the response. WHO has received under half of its $115m appeal, which will reduce testing, surveillance and community outreach at the moment when cases are growing fastest.
• Community mistrust and attacks on clinics are preventing people from seeking early care. Many patients die at home; survival improves with early hospital care, but hospitals are overloaded.

Immediate consequences

• Strikes by frontline staff over unpaid wages are reducing treatment capacity at a critical moment; any sustained walkout will increase community deaths and transmission.
• Spread into large urban centres such as Kisangani in Tshopo province will raise the risk of wider geographic seeding and international exportation; Uganda has already recorded confirmed cases.

Short-term forecast

• Case numbers will continue to rise while surveillance gaps remain. The true caseload will remain higher than official figures until contact tracing and testing expand and funding increases.
• If international funding and local security do not improve, the outbreak will outpace response efforts and clinical trials will take longer to produce usable results.

What will change the trajectory

• Rapid payment and protection for local health workers will restore capacity and improve community trust.
• Immediate funding to scale community surveillance, surge testing and safe burials will reduce community transmission within weeks.

Bottom line

This outbreak is moving faster than the response because people and money are missing where they are needed. Without urgent funding and restored local capacity, cases and deaths will continue to climb and spread to new provinces.

How we got here

DR Congo declared the Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak on May 15. The epidemic has concentrated in Ituri province but spread to neighbouring provinces and into Uganda. Bundibugyo has no approved vaccine or proven treatment; international teams have begun clinical trials of experimental therapies in Bunia.

Our analysis

The coverage shows consistent core facts but different emphases. WHO statements quoted by All Africa and Arab News highlight scale and surveillance gaps: Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu told reporters "the scale of the outbreak is at least two to four times" the reported cases and that "80 per cent of new cases are outside our contact lists" (All Africa, All Africa/Arab News reporting). AP and New York Post focus on operational breakdowns: AP reported frontline workers issued a 24-hour strike notice saying they "had not been paid benefits" and lacked equipment; the New York Post and Al Jazeera published images and on-the-ground reporting of barricades and staff stopping work in Bunia and Rwampara. Reuters and France 24, cited in several reports, documented spread to Tshopo and Haut‑Uele and described community deaths and a test-positive body secretly moved to Kisangani, quoting national institute bulletins. Independent and AP provided human-detail reporting from Bunia and treatment centres, noting the start of clinical trials: AP wrote "the first participant had been enrolled" in trials of remdesivir and MBP134 and Reuters/France 24 repeated that the trials have begun but will take months. Together the sources show a worsening outbreak, WHO modelling warning of undercounting, operational strain from unpaid staff and insecurity, and the launch of therapeutic trials despite difficult conditions.

Go deeper

• How will unpaid strikes affect enrolment and continuity of clinical trials?
• What steps are donors and WHO taking to close the funding gap immediately?

More on these topics

• World Health Organization

  The World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution, which establishes the agency's governing structure and principles, states its main objective as "the attainment

• Democratic Republic of the Congo - Country in Central Africa

  The Democratic Republic of the Congo, also known as Congo-Kinshasa, Zaire, DR Congo, DRC, the DROC, or simply the Congo, is a country located in Central Africa. It was formerly called Zaire.

• Ituri Province - Province of DR Congo

  Ituri Province (French: Province de l'Ituri; Swahili: Mkoa wa Ituri) is one of the 26 provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo created in the 2015 repartitioning. Ituri, Bas-Uele, Haut-Uele, and Tshopo provinces are the result of the subdividing of the former Orientale province. Ituri was formed from the Ituri district, whose town of Bunia was elevated to capital city of the new province.

• Bunia - Bunia is a city in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is the capital of the province of Ituri.

  Bunia is the capital city of Ituri Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). It was part of the Orientale Province until that province's dissolution. It lies at an elevation of 1,275 metres or 4,180 feet on a plateau about 30 kilometres or 19 miles west of Lake Albert in the Albertine Rift, and about 25 kilometres or 16 miles east of the Ituri Rainforest. The city is at the center of the Ituri conflict between the Lendu and Hema. In the Second Congo War the city and district were the scene of much fighting and many civilian deaths from this conflict, and related clashes between militias and Uganda-based forces. Consequently, the city is the base of one of the largest United Nations peace-keeping forces in Africa, and its headquarters in northeastern DRC. The area's natural resources include gold mines over which militias and foreign forces have been fighting.

• Ebola hemorrhagic fever - Human disease

  Ebola, also known as Ebola virus disease (EVD) and Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF), is a zoonotic viral hemorrhagic fever in humans and other primates, caused by four of the six known ebolaviruses. Symptoms typically start anywhere between two days and three weeks after infection. The first symptoms are usually fever, sore throat, muscle pain, and headaches. These are usually followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, rash, hepatic and renal dysfunction, at which point some people begin to bleed both internally and externally. Outbreaks of the disease have had a mortality rate of between 25 and 90%, averaging out at approximately 50%. The viral species involved and timing of treatment play a critical role in its prognosis. Death is often due to shock from fluid loss, and typically occurs between 6 and 16 days after the first symptoms appear. The viruses have caused intermittent outbreaks in sub-Saharan Africa since 1976 when the disease was first reported, with the largest one being the 2013–16 Western African epidemic. They spread through direct contact with body fluids, such as blood from infected humans or other animals, or from contact with items that have recently been contaminated with infected...

• Uganda - Country in East Africa

  Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East-Central Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south

• France - Country in Europe

  France, officially the French Republic, is a country consisting of metropolitan France in Western Europe and several overseas regions and territories.

• South Kivu - Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo

  South Kivu (Swahili: Jimbo la Kivu Kusini; French: Sud-Kivu) is one of 26 provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its capital is Bukavu. Located within the East African Rift's western branch Albertine Rift, it is bordered to the east by Lake...

• North Kivu - Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo

  North Kivu (Swahili: Jimbo la Kivu Kaskazini) is a province bordering Lake Kivu in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The capital city is Goma. Spanning approximately 59,483 square kilometers with a population estimate of 8,985,711 as of 2020, it is bordered by Ituri to the north, Tshopo to the northwest, Maniema to the southwest, and South Kivu to the south, as well as Uganda and Rwanda to the east. North Kivu's administrative history traces back to the colonial era when it was initially part of the Stanley Falls District within the Congo Free State. Following a series of territorial reorganizations, North Kivu became incorporated into Orientale Province, with Stanleyville (modern-day Kisangani) as the provincial capital. The area gained provincial status in 1962 but was demoted to a district under Mobutu Sese Seko's regime in 1965. It was formally reinstated in 1988 under Ordinance-Law No. 88/1976 and Ordinance-Law No. 88-031, which redefined the previous Kivu Province into tripartite separate provinces: North Kivu, South Kivu, and Maniema. Presently, North Kivu comprises three cities—Goma, Butembo, and Beni—and six territories: Beni, Lubero, Masisi, Rutshuru, Nyiragongo...

• Republic of the Congo - Country in Central Africa

  The Republic of the Congo, also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply the Congo, is a country located in the western coast of Central Africa.

• Kinshasa - Capital and the largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo having the status of a province

  Kinshasa (; French: [kinʃasa]; Lingala: Kinsásá), formerly named Léopoldville (Dutch: Leopoldstad) from 1881 to 1966, is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Kinshasa is one of the world's fastest-growing megacities, with an estimated population of 18.5 million in 2026. It is the most densely populated city in the DRC, the third-most populous city and third-largest metropolitan area in Africa, the world's seventh-most populous city proper (the most populous outside of China) and fourth-most populous capital city. It is the leading economic, political, and cultural center of the DRC, housing several industries including manufacturing, telecommunications, banking, and entertainment. The city also hosts some of the DRC's significant institutional buildings, such as the People's Palace, Palace of the Nation, Constitutional Court, Court of Cassation, Council of State, African Union City, Marble Palace, Government House, Kinshasa Financial Center, and other national departments and agencies. The Kinshasa site has been inhabited by Teke and Humbu people for centuries and was known as Nshasa before transforming into a commercial hub during the 19th and 20th...

• Chikwe Ihekweazu - Nigerian epidemiologist

  Chikwe Ihekweazu is a Nigerian epidemiologist and public health physician who is the current Director General of Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, the agency responsible for protecting public health and safety through the control and prevention of commu

• Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention - Public agency

  The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention is a public health agency of the African Union to support the public health initiatives of member states and strengthen the capacity of their health institutions to deal with disease threats.

• Reuters - News organization company

  Reuters is an international news organization owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs some 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. The agency was established in London in 1851 by the German-born Paul Reuter.

• South Sudan - Country in North Africa

  South Sudan, officially known as the Republic of South Sudan, is a landlocked country in East-Central Africa. It is bordered to the east by Ethiopia, to the north by Sudan, to the west by the Central African Republic, to the south-west by Democratic Repub

• Goma - City in Democratic Republic of the Congo

  Goma is a city in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is the capital and largest city of the North Kivu province; it is located on the northern shore of Lake Kivu and shares borders with the Bukumu Chiefdom to the north, Rwanda to the east and the Masisi Territory to the west. The city lies in the Albertine Rift, the western branch of the East African Rift, and is only 13–18 km (8.1–11.2 mi) south of the active volcano Mount Nyiragongo. With an approximate area of 75.72 km2 (29.24 sq mi), the city had a population of 782,000 people in 2024, with an additional 500,000 displaced people. Goma is administratively divided into two communes: Goma and Karisimbi, which are further subdivided into 18 quarters (quartiers). The city is home to several notable landmarks, including Goma International Airport, the UNESCO World Heritage Site Virunga National Park, the private Christian co-educational school Adventist University of Goma, the University of Goma, and is surrounded by the active Virunga volcanic range, which includes volcanoes Nyamulagira, Nyiragongo, Mikeno, Visoke, Gahinga, Karisimbi, and Sabinyo. Goma hosts the annual Amani Festival, the Free University of the Great Lakes...

• Kisangani - City in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

  Kisangani is the capital of Tshopo province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is the fifth most populous urban area in the country, with an estimated population of 1,261,000 in 2020, and the largest of the cities that lie in the tropical woodlan

• United States - Country in North America

  The United States of America, commonly known as the United States or America, is a country mostly located in central North America, between Canada and Mexico.

• Mungwalu - Town in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

  Mongbwalu is a small town in the Djugu Territory of the Ituri Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

• Remdesivir - Medication

  Remdesivir, sold under the brand name Veklury, is a broad-spectrum antiviral medication developed by the biopharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences. It is administered via injection into a vein.

• Associated Press - News agency company

  The Associated Press is an American not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. Its members are U.S. newspapers and broadcasters.

• Kampala - Capital of Uganda

  Kampala is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper was estimated to have a population of 1,650,800 people on 31 July 2019 and is divided into the five boroughs of Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Divisi

• University of Oxford - University in Oxford, England

  The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the world's second-oldest university in continuous operation

• Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus - Director general of the World Health Organization

  Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus is an Ethiopian biologist, public health researcher, and official who has been Director-General of the World Health Organization since 2017. Tedros is the first African in the role, and was endorsed by the African Union. He play

• Kenya - Country in East Africa

  Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country in Eastern Africa. At 580,367 square kilometres, Kenya is the world's 48th largest country by total area. With a population of more than 47.6 million people, Kenya is the 29th most populous country.

• New York Post - Newspaper

  The New York Post is a daily newspaper in New York City. The Post also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com and the entertainment site Decider.com. The modern version of the paper is published in tabloid format.

• The Independent - Newspaper

  The Independent is a British online newspaper that was established in 1986 as a national morning printed newspaper published in London. Nicknamed the Indy, it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis

• Germany - Country in Europe

  Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central and Western Europe. Covering an area of 357,022 square kilometres, it lies between the Baltic and North seas to the north, and the Alps to the south.

• Marburg virus disease - Human disease

  Marburg virus disease (MVD), formerly Marburg hemorrhagic fever (MHF) is a viral hemorrhagic fever in human and non-human primates caused by either of the two Marburgviruses: Marburg virus (MARV) and Ravn virus (RAVV). Its clinical symptoms are very simil