Congo's Ebola outbreak surpasses 4,000 cases as unpaid health workers protest and vaccine plan expands

Outbreak scale and speed

Congo's Ebola outbreak, declared in mid-May 2026, has become the fastest-growing on record, with confirmed cases exceeding 4,000 and over 1,800 deaths according to the latest government data. Africa CDC Director General Jean Kaseya said 3,973 cases and 1,801 deaths had been confirmed as of Tuesday, and authorities estimated the total had since surpassed 4,000. The outbreak is already the second-largest on record, behind the 2014-2016 West Africa outbreak that recorded more than 28,000 cases and over 11,000 deaths. The virus is spreading at a rate six to eight times faster than any previous outbreak, with cases now logged in 51 health zones compared to nine in May. Authorities say 60-70% of new cases are recorded outside of contacts being monitored, meaning the outbreak is moving faster than tracing efforts can track.

Bundibugyo strain and vaccine response

The current outbreak is linked to the Bundibugyo virus species, for which there are no approved vaccines or treatments. Kaseya told reporters that authorities had decided to expand use of a vaccine developed against the Zaire ebolavirus species, after data suggested it provided some protection against the Bundibugyo strain. He said there was evidence of the vaccine eliminating deaths, if not symptoms, in test cases conducted so far. Authorities also plan to expand use of the antiviral drug remdesivir, developed by Gilead Sciences, in affected areas. The Africa CDC and WHO plan to launch research to check for a possible mutation or other abnormality in the current outbreak, as WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned the virus is transmitting at unprecedented speed.

Unpaid health workers and protests

Hundreds of front-line health workers, including burial teams, drivers and infection control staff, have been working without pay since the outbreak was declared in mid-May. Wiza Bondele, a 29-year-old infection control worker at a hospital in Ituri province, told the AP he and colleagues were promised a monthly salary of $510 but have not received it. Some workers have received partial payments; others nothing. On Thursday, dozens of health workers protested at the governor's office in Bunia, the capital of Ituri province, abandoning several health facilities and disrupting critical care. Health Minister Samuel Roger Kamba acknowledged the payment delays in July, attributing them to organizational failures, and promised to resolve them.

Sometimes patients are bleeding or vomiting blood. We clean and disinfect those places. With risks like that, we deserve salaries.

Suspected case on river boat near Kinshasa

Congolese health authorities intercepted a river boat near Kinshasa after the death of a 32-year-old passenger suspected of having Ebola, who died on July 25 in Pimu, Mongala province, more than 1,000 kilometres from the capital. The boat was stopped in Maluku, around 65 km upstream from Kinshasa, and all passengers were undergoing temperature checks and clinical screening. Reuters reported more than 300 people on board, while the Irish Examiner cited nearly 200 passengers. Samples were collected from four passengers with fever symptoms, with results expected on Friday. Kaseya said Kinshasa has no confirmed Ebola case, and that authorities decided to test all passengers even without symptoms to ensure nothing was missed.

We decided to do that even if some of them didn't have symptoms because we want to make sure that we don't miss anything.