DR Congo Ebola death toll surpasses 4,000 as outbreak spreads to 63 health zones

Outbreak passes 4,000 deaths

Data released by the Ministry of Health on 2 October showed that Ebola has killed 4,018 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The outbreak has recorded 8,300 confirmed cases across seven provinces since the government officially declared the epidemic on 15 May 2026. Official records indicate that 2,162 patients have recovered, placing the nationwide case fatality rate at 48.4%. In North Kivu province, the mortality rate reaches 59%. The epidemic is caused by the rare Bundibugyo strain, for which no approved treatment or vaccine currently exists. Health authorities delivered 50,000 doses of the Ervebo vaccine, originally developed for the Zaire strain, and have inoculated more than 7,000 frontline workers. The World Health Organization warned that the outbreak has surpassed the country's 2018–2020 epidemic and continues to expand.

Health strikes and destruction of transit site

Containment operations in Ituri province faced severe disruption earlier in the week after soldiers searching for weapons burned down an Ebola camp in Kigonze, on the outskirts of Bunia. The destruction of the facility, which housed an active transit centre for infected patients, forced 19,000 people to flee the area. Frontline medical workers and contact-tracing surveillance teams gathered in Bunia to protest unpaid salaries, displaying banners reading "No money, no data!" before authorities dispersed them. Surveillance teams, who track contacts exposed to infected patients, have staged repeated strikes since the start of the epidemic. Julien Harneis, the UN senior Ebola coordinator, detailed the consequences of losing operational facilities.

When we lose a centre, that means we lose capacity, we lose investment, and we have to start again. And above all, it means that people do not get access to the care that they really need.

Attacks on personnel and medical evacuations

Community resistance and armed violence have created severe obstacles for health workers across eastern provinces. Marie-Celestin Karondwa, a local official with the governing Union for Democracy and Social Progress party, died on 27 September after being beaten by residents and having his home burned in Butembo following a radio broadcast on Ebola prevention. More than 50 healthcare workers have died after contracting the virus during the current outbreak. On 1 October, an aid worker with Medecins Sans Frontieres who contracted Ebola in Congo was flown to the Netherlands and transferred to a high-level isolation unit at Leiden University Medical Centre. Medecins Sans Frontieres noted that the actual death count is likely higher due to gaps in monitoring and detection.

Expansion across health zones

The outbreak has broadened its reach from an initial three health zones to 63 zones across eastern Congo. Ongoing fighting among armed groups near the borders with South Sudan, Uganda, and Rwanda continues to block rapid medical response in remote areas. While Africa CDC reported a decrease in newly confirmed cases over the past three weeks, epidemiologists attribute the decline to community mistrust, insecurity, and reliance on paper forms in rural villages rather than true disease containment. Wessam Mankoula, acting head of emergency preparedness at Africa CDC, rejected suggestions that the epidemic had subsided.

We cannot yet say with conviction that the outbreak is under control.