The Democratic Republic of the Congo has reached a critical moment in its battle to contain Ebola, with health experts warning that the response now stands at a decisive crossroads.
Authorities must rapidly build on existing measures to suppress the current outbreak, or face the prospect of it becoming the most severe Ebola epidemic ever documented.
Since the outbreak was declared in May 2026, the DRC had recorded more than 6,186 confirmed infections and 3,007 deaths as of September 1. The toll makes it the deadliest Ebola outbreak in the country’s history.
The crisis involves the Bundibugyo strain of the virus responsible for Ebola disease. No licensed vaccine or targeted treatment is currently available for this strain.
Health officials believe the outbreak began in late April 2026 in Mongbwalu, a highly mobile mining hub in north-eastern DRC’s Ituri region. It then spread through linked communities and health-care networks into the Rwampara and Bunia health zones in Ituri province, before crossing into Uganda.
The Congolese government is leading the national response, supported by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization and other partners. Their work has included expanding disease surveillance, laboratory services, treatment facilities, infection prevention, vaccination efforts, logistics, public outreach and safe, dignified burials.
There have been important gains, notably in Uganda, where transmission was halted through firm national leadership and close cooperation with local communities.
In the DRC, however, persistent insecurity, high population movement, late case detection, funding and supply shortfalls, and limited community ownership have continued to fuel the spread of the virus.
Experts say the Ebola outbreak in the DRC has reached a “tipping point.” Red Cross workers are pictured disinfecting an area of Ituri province in May this year.
The current response remains insufficient to break the chain of transmission in the DRC. Officials say surveillance, testing, treatment, vaccination and community engagement must be brought closer to villages if the outbreak is to be contained.
And public health experts with expertise in Ebola say more action is required.
What’s required is informed by the four factors that have made this epidemic difficult to control:
- The DRC’s difficult geographical and humanitarian environment
- Highly mobile populations
- Low trust and poor community engagement
- The incomplete scientific arsenal against the Bundibugyo virus
The four factors
First, this is an outbreak occurring in an exceptionally difficult environment. The affected areas are vast, remote and, in many places, insecure. Short journeys can take a day or more on bad roads, particularly during the rainy season (which is now).
Second, populations are highly mobile. Mining communities, motorcycle transport, displacement and cross-border movement connect villages and health zones that are difficult to monitor.
The outbreak has been concentrated in several interconnected areas, particularly in Ituri, about 1,700 miles (2,886 kilometers) from Kinshasa, the DRC capital. Bunia, the main urban hub in Ituri, is connected to surrounding transmission areas. Movement of people is important in the response.
Third, trust and community engagement remain challenges. When people are afraid, when health facilities have closed after health workers have died, or when families have experienced Ebola without seeing an effective response, they may delay or avoid getting help.
This directly affects surveillance. Current investigations by our team suggest that a substantial proportion of cases are being identified outside established contact lists. The response therefore cannot depend only on traditional contact tracing.
Fourth, unlike Ebola caused by the Zaire species, the Bundibugyo virus has no licensed vaccine or specific treatment. Clinical research is therefore part of the response itself.
The DRC has launched Ebola vaccination in Kisangani. The first injections were administered to health workers and other frontline responders.
More than 50,000 doses have been received.
The International Coordinating Group on Vaccine Provision has approved 70,000 doses of Ervebo for use in the country. Around 20,000 doses will be used in a clinical trial to assess its effectiveness against the Bundibugyo strain.
The above graphic from the CDC shows areas in the DRC where Ebola cases have been detected
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The above shows the number of Ebola cases by date confirmed in the current DRC outbreak (red line), the 2018 DRC outbreak (black line) and 2014 West Africa outbreak (blue dotted line)
The response thus far
It is important to recognize how much has been achieved in only three months, between May 15 and August 15, 2026.
More than 20 Ebola treatment and isolation facilities have been established or supported. At the height of the crisis in late May 2026, treatment capacity was overwhelmed, with bed occupancy exceeding 200 percent. In late August, occupancy had fallen to around 66 percent.
Laboratory capacity has expanded dramatically, with 22 laboratories operating across the five affected provinces.
Before, there was only one in Kinshasa with the capacity to detect Bundibugyo. This has helped reduce turnaround time between sample collection and results, from over a week to just hours.
Safe and dignified burials have also improved substantially, with the vast majority now taking place within 24 hours.
These improvements matter. They are signs that the response can change the trajectory of an epidemic when resources, coordination and technical capacity come together.
There are also encouraging epidemiological signals. The effective reproduction number, which measures how fast a disease spreads, has fallen substantially from the very high levels (Rt 4.0, which means each infected person is passing on Ebola to four others) observed in May. The average number of people that each patient infects has fallen from four to just over one.
The scale of resources mobilized for the outbreak is substantial, with approximately $1.72 billion in pledges, including $118.5 million committed by African countries. Around $867 million (about half of the pledges) has reportedly been released.
The continental response plan launched on June 5, 2026 by Africa CDC and WHO was designed around a simple principle: one plan, one budget, one team, one monitoring and evaluation framework, with communities at the center.
The above shows health workers with the coffin of 38-year-old woman Abineno Justine, who died of Ebola in Bunia, DRC. The image was taken on September 4 this year
Above is a stock image of the Ebola virus. It has a fatality rate of between 25 and 50 percent
What’s required
The next phase must center on the villages. Local representatives, health workers and leaders should become active partners in surveillance, early detection, referral, risk communication and community protection.
Digital tools can support this, but technology must serve the community rather than replace it.
Commercial motorcycle riders, who connect communities across enormous distances, must be engaged as partners in the response rather than being treated simply as a risk.
Vaccination must be brought closer to communities. Research must be done where the epidemic is occurring. Clinical trials of vaccines and therapeutics must proceed with urgency and scientific rigor.
Essential health services must continue alongside Ebola control.
The same applies to the reopening of schools. This must happen with infection-prevention measures, including training teachers, providing hygiene facilities, developing clear referral mechanisms, and adapting communication about the epidemic for school children and families.
Humanitarian and Ebola responses must also be integrated. A community facing insecurity, displacement and disease cannot be expected to navigate separate systems for each crisis.
Finally, Ebola doesn’t respect borders. The collaboration between the DRC and Uganda shows what regional solidarity can look like. It’s about joint surveillance, moving diagnostic capacity closer to border communities, sharing information and coordinated action.
The DRC-Uganda lessons must be extended to South Sudan, the Republic of Congo and other neighboring countries as agreed in Bangui, Central African Republic, in mid August.
This article is adapted from The Conversation, a nonprofit news organization dedicated to sharing the knowledge of experts. It was written by Yap Boum, Professor in the faculty of Medicine at Mbarara University of Science and Technology, and Marie Roseline Belizaire, a Researcher in the School of Medicine at Universidad de Alcalá. It was edited by Luke Andrews, Daily Mail senior health correspondent.