DRC Ebola Outbreak Surpasses 6,000 Confirmed Cases, Nearly 3,000 Deaths

DRC health authorities reported Aug 31 that the Bundibugyo-virus Ebola outbreak has topped 6,000 confirmed cases for the first time — 6,041 confirmed cases and 2,911 deaths (case fatality rate ~48.2%), with 1,366 patients recovered, as of data through Aug 29. The outbreak, declared May 15, 2026 in Ituri, has spread to 60 health zones across six provinces (Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu, Haut-Uele, Bas-Uele and Tshopo), making it DRC's largest and deadliest Ebola epidemic on record — surpassing the 2018-2020 outbreak's 3,317 cases — and the second-largest Ebola epidemic ever recorded worldwide. The WHO said the outbreak remains "out of control" and warned it could eventually overtake the 2014-2016 West Africa epidemic (11,000+ deaths) if transmission is not brought under control; response efforts continue to be hampered by insecurity, displacement, a health workers' strike and the lack of an approved vaccine or treatment specific to the Bundibugyo strain, though DRC began compassionate-use ERVEBO vaccination of frontline workers in Kisangani on Aug 27.