The DRC's Ebola Outbreak Is the Fastest-Spreading Ever — Here's What's Happening
The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has spread to two new areas — Biena and Manguredjipa in North Kivu province — bringing the total number of affected areas to 60, according to DRC Ministry of Health figures reported on August 28, 2026 Al Jazeera. The outbreak was declared on May 14 as the DRC's 17th Ebola epidemic. It has now reached 5,794 confirmed cases and 2,786 deaths across six provinces Al Jazeera.
The overall death rate — meaning the share of people with confirmed Ebola who die from it — is about 48 percent. But the two newest areas, Biena and Manguredjipa, are seeing much higher death rates. The Ministry of Health says this is because help arrived late. Beni, one of the hardest-hit towns in North Kivu, has recorded 122 confirmed cases and 87 deaths since the outbreak began in mid-May. That is a death rate of about 69 percent Al Jazeera.
This outbreak is caused by a type of Ebola called the Bundibugyo strain. There is no approved vaccine or treatment for it. That is different from other Ebola outbreaks caused by the Zaire strain, where a vaccine called Ervebo has been used. WHO Africa confirmed the Bundibugyo strain at the start of the outbreak, with the first cases appearing in the Mongbwalu and Rwampara areas of Ituri Province WHO Africa. Ituri has remained the center of the outbreak, accounting for about 85 percent of cases and 79 percent of deaths as of late August WHO Africa.
The outbreak now spans six provinces: Ituri, North Kivu, Haut-Uélé, Tshopo, South Kivu, and Bas-Uélé DRC Ministry of Health. The most recent situation report before the August 28 update, covering data through August 19, recorded 81 new confirmed cases in a single reporting period: 56 in Ituri, 18 in North Kivu, and 7 in Haut-Uélé, along with 40 confirmed deaths DRC Ministry of Health. On May 14, when the outbreak was first declared, only 8 of 13 tested samples were positive in Ituri. In under four months, that number has grown to nearly 5,800 confirmed cases. On August 27, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that this is the fastest-spreading Ebola epidemic ever recorded, and that it is expanding faster than the response trying to contain it Al Jazeera.
The medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) opened a new treatment centre in Beni on August 28 to help manage cases in that high-death-rate area Al Jazeera. MSF has 1,400 staff working across the DRC and runs treatment centres with a total of 400 beds. The DRC Ministry of Health reported 1,200 people have recovered so far, with 18 new recoveries in a single 24-hour period. Contact tracing — the process of finding and monitoring everyone who has been near a sick person — stands at 83.4 percent coverage DRC Ministry of Health.
The broader context here is that this outbreak is happening in one of the hardest places in the world to run a public health response. Eastern DRC has porous borders, ongoing armed conflict, and a health system that was already stretched thin before Ebola arrived. Because the outbreak has spread across six provinces and people move freely between areas, it is very hard to track who has been exposed. The 17.4 percent gap in following up with contacts becomes more serious when new areas are being infected faster than teams can set up monitoring in the ones already affected.
The Bundibugyo strain adds its own challenge. First identified in 2007 in Uganda's Bundibugyo District, it has sometimes caused lower death rates in past outbreaks compared to the Zaire strain. But the 48 percent death rate in this epidemic is still dangerously high. Without a vaccine, the response depends entirely on basic public health tools: finding cases quickly, isolating sick people, providing supportive care, tracing contacts, and working with communities. In the 2018–2020 Eastern DRC Ebola outbreak, a vaccine helped break chains of transmission. That tool is not available this time.
Whether MSF's new treatment centre in Beni and the existing 400 beds across the response can keep up with the outbreak's spread is the key question. The newly affected areas of Biena and Manguredjipa, where high death rates are tied to delayed help, show what happens when the response cannot reach new cases fast enough.
