Ebola Outbreak 2026 Passes 10,000 Cases in DR Congo as Four Countries Report Infections — What Health Officials Say

The Ebola outbreak 2026 has passed 10,000 confirmed cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo, with health authorities reporting 10,060 infections and 4,887 deaths in the country as of 25 October 2026. The figures, released by the Congolese health authorities on Tuesday 27 October 2026, make this the largest and deadliest Ebola outbreak in the country’s history. Cases linked to the same outbreak have also been reported in Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda, giving it the widest spread of any Ebola outbreak on the African continent so far.

The outbreak was declared on 15 May 2026 in Ituri province in eastern DR Congo. It is the country’s 17th Ebola outbreak, and it is caused by the Bundibugyo species of Ebola virus. Unlike the better-known Zaire species, Bundibugyo has no approved vaccine and no approved specific treatment, which is why prevention, surveillance and rapid contact tracing have become the central tools of the response.

Ebola outbreak 2026: the numbers so far

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control puts the DR Congo fatality figure at about 48.6 per cent of confirmed cases. Congolese figures cited in reporting on 28 October 2026 also record 2,684 recoveries in DR Congo. Save the Children, reporting on 27 October 2026, said more than 1,900 children had been orphaned or separated from one or both parents or caregivers during the outbreak.

How the outbreak reached four countries

From a single health zone in Ituri, the outbreak spread to 66 health zones across eight provinces, according to Save the Children. The provinces listed by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control are Ituri, Nord-Kivu, Sud-Kivu, Tshopo, Haut-Uele, Bas-Uele, Sud Ubangi and Nord Ubangi. Conflict, displacement, food insecurity and weakened health services in several of those areas have made the response harder to deliver.

Kenya reported its first case on 6 October 2026. By 26 October 2026 it had nine confirmed cases and two deaths, all linked to the first case. The last Kenyan case was reported on 20 October 2026, and the second death on 23 October 2026.

Nigeria’s case was reported on 20 October 2026. The patient, the Ugandan-born wife of a Swiss diplomat, had travelled from Uganda to Abuja, arriving on 3 October 2026 after a holiday in Uganda. She developed symptoms on 7 October 2026, sought care on 11 October 2026 and tested positive on 20 October 2026, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. She has since been medically evacuated to Switzerland.

Africa CDC director-general Dr Jean Kaseya told Reuters that the Nigerian patient was not tested until about 13 days after falling ill, after initially being treated as a suspected malaria case. Nigeria identified 44 contacts at that stage, a number Kaseya and other experts said was bound to rise. The delay, Kaseya said, would complicate tracing everyone the patient may have infected, because Ebola spreads through direct contact with the bodily fluids of a person showing symptoms.

Why Bundibugyo changes the response

There is currently no approved vaccine specifically for the Bundibugyo Ebola strain driving the outbreak. That gap is the reason the vaccine trial that began in DR Congo on 23 October 2026 matters so much to health officials. The trial, called Tumaini — Swahili for “hope” — began in Bunia, the capital of Ituri province and the epicentre of the outbreak.

The first participants were vaccinated with Ervebo, a vaccine approved against the more common Zaire strain of Ebola. The trial will test whether Ervebo offers any cross-protection against Bundibugyo. Two Bundibugyo-specific candidate vaccines are also being prepared for the same trial framework: one developed by the University of Oxford using a ChAdOx1 adenoviral vector, and one developed by Moderna using mRNA technology. Both are still in earlier-stage, smaller trials.

The trial uses a ring vaccination approach, immunising contacts judged to be at higher risk of infection. World Health Organization director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the trial would help establish whether any vaccine candidates designed for Bundibugyo virus work. He added that the WHO is supporting what he described as a DRC-led effort to find answers and save lives.

What officials warn about the wider risk

Dr Kaseya has warned that no country should assume it is safe while the outbreak continues. “When we identified at-risk countries, Nigeria was not part of this list. It is now,” he told Reuters. He added that the at-risk list would have to be redrawn, and that North and Southern Africa could also be at risk.

Al Jazeera reported that about 80 per cent of new cases are coming from outside the chains of transmission that health authorities are monitoring. Africa CDC has said at least 95 per cent of cases must come from known contacts of infected people for an outbreak to be considered under control. That gap between the two figures is one reason officials describe containment as a complex task.

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control assesses the likelihood of infection for people from the European Union and European Economic Area living in or travelling to affected areas as low. For people living in the EU and EEA, it assesses the likelihood as very low, given the very low likelihood of importation and secondary transmission. Four cases linked to the DR Congo outbreak have been medically evacuated or imported to the EU and EEA since May 2026, and a resident of the United Kingdom was also evacuated to the UK following potential exposure while treating Ebola patients in DR Congo.

Frequently asked questions

Is Ebola contagious before symptoms appear?

Ebola spreads through direct contact with the bodily fluids of a person showing symptoms, according to Africa CDC reporting. That is why contact tracing focuses on people who were in contact with a patient after symptoms began, and why a delay in testing makes tracing harder.

Is there a vaccine for the Bundibugyo strain?

No approved vaccine exists specifically for Bundibugyo Ebola virus. The Tumaini trial in Bunia, which began on 23 October 2026, is testing whether the approved Zaire-strain vaccine Ervebo gives cross-protection, and two Bundibugyo-specific candidates are in earlier trials.

How does this outbreak compare with the 2014-2015 West Africa outbreak?

The 2014-2015 West Africa outbreak remains the largest ever recorded globally, with more than 28,600 infections and 11,325 deaths, according to the World Health Organization figures cited by Save the Children. The current DR Congo outbreak, at 10,060 cases, is the second-largest on record and the largest ever in DR Congo.

Has Uganda’s outbreak ended?

Yes, on the reporting available. Uganda recorded 20 cases and two deaths in its linked outbreak and was declared Ebola-free by the WHO in late August 2026, according to reporting on 28 October 2026. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control likewise records Uganda’s outbreak as ended.

What should travellers to affected areas do?

Health agencies advise avoiding direct contact with the bodily fluids of anyone who is ill, following local health guidance, and seeking care promptly if symptoms develop after travel to an affected area. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control assesses the risk to people living in the EU and EEA as very low, but it continues to monitor the outbreak.