Ebola cases in DR Congo surpass 10,000 in fastest-growing outbreak

Nearly half of the people confirmed to have the virus have died in DRC’s fastest-growing Ebola outbreak on record.

Kenya Red Cross personnel simulate the evacuation of remains of an Ebola victim in the Kenyan capital Nairobi on October 22, 2026 [Tony Karumba/AFP]

Confirmed Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have surpassed 10,000 as the outbreak continues to spread across the country and beyond its borders.

Government data released on Tuesday put confirmed cases at 10,060 and deaths at 4,887.

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It is the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak in the country’s history and nearly half of the 10,060 confirmed to have the virus have died, according to data from the DRC’s Ministry of Public Health. That also makes it the deadliest outbreak of the disease in the country’s history.

With cases also mounting outside the DRC, the wider outbreak is also the second-largest and second-deadliest on record, trailing only the 2014-2016 West African epidemic, which saw 28,600 infected and more than 11,000 dead within two years.

About 80 percent of new cases are coming from outside the chains of transmission that health authorities are monitoring.

The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has said at least 95 percent of cases must come from the known contacts of infected people for the outbreak to be considered under control.

The outbreak, declared on May 15, is caused by the Bundibugyo virus, a rare Ebola strain for which no vaccine or treatment has been approved. On Friday, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that the first clinical trial for a vaccine had been rolled out.

A health worker administers a dose of the Tumaini vaccine against Ebola virus, in Ituri, DRC, October 23, 2026 [Dieudonne Dirole/AP]

Healthcare shortages

Five months into the outbreak, responders in the DRC say some treatment centres are overwhelmed, while remote and newly affected areas are short of medical supplies and health workers.

Cases have been recorded in 66 health zones across eight provinces, up from just three in the first days.

Many teams lack adequate vehicles and struggle to persuade families to hand over the sick for treatment and the dead for safe burial. At least half of those who have died were never admitted for treatment.

The outbreak has disrupted routine care such as childhood vaccinations, and maternal deaths doubled in some provinces soon after it was declared.

Strikes over delayed or unpaid wages are common. Last week, Ebola responders in Nia Nia, Ituri province, stopped work over bonuses owed since late August.

Health workers have also come under attack amid public mistrust and frustration with the government’s response.

On Saturday, assailants killed a nurse and seriously injured a colleague as the two responded to a suspected Ebola case in Bafwasende, Tshopo province, the WHO said.

“Everyone working to protect communities from this deadly disease must be able to work in dignity and safety,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X.

Last month, Marie-Celestin Karondwa, a local politician, was fatally beaten after defending the Ebola response on the radio, his party said.

Cross-border infections

The virus has had a wider cross-border reach than any earlier Ebola epidemic. Governments and international organisations have worked to contain cross-border infections.

In neighbouring Uganda, Health Minister Chris Baryomunsi announced on Sunday that citizens returning from the DRC must quarantine for 21 days at their own expense as a precautionary measure.

The country’s officials have said there are no active infections in the country after recording 20 cases – mostly imported from the DRC – and two deaths over the summer.

Swiss authorities, however, have said a woman married to a Swiss diplomat was infected during a September visit to Uganda.

Last week, she was diagnosed with Ebola while visiting Nigeria – making it the fourth African country impacted by the outbreak. Nigerian officials have responded by instituting heightened screening for the disease at airports. On Monday, the patient was evacuated to Switzerland for treatment.

In Kenya, confirmed infections rose rapidly in October. Twenty contacts of the country’s first patient were released from a mandatory quarantine on Monday after 21 days, while 98 remain under monitoring, the WHO said. Kenya’s tally has since risen to nine confirmed cases, two of them fatal.

在刚果民主共和国有史以来增长速度最快的埃博拉疫情中，近一半确诊感染病毒的人已经死亡。

2026年10月22日，肯尼亚红十字会在肯尼亚首都内罗毕模拟撤离埃博拉死者遗体。[Tony Karumba/AFP]

刚果民主共和国（刚果（金））确诊的埃博拉病例已超过 10,000 例，疫情仍在该国蔓延并扩散到境外。

周二公布的政府数据显示，确诊病例达 10,060 例，死亡病例达 4,887 例。

世界卫生组织宣布在刚果民主共和国启动埃博拉疫苗临床试验（共3条，第1条）

乌干达下令对从刚果民主共和国返回的公民进行21天埃博拉隔离（共3条记录中的第2条）

列表 3/3：袭击者杀害护士，致一名参与应对刚果民主共和国埃博拉疫情的医护人员受伤

这是该国历史上蔓延速度最快的埃博拉疫情，根据刚果民主共和国公共卫生部的数据，在10060名确诊感染者中，近一半已经死亡。这也使之成为该国历史上死亡人数最多的埃博拉疫情。

由于刚果民主共和国以外的病例也在不断增加，此次疫情的蔓延规模也成为有记录以来第二大、第二致命的疫情，仅次于 2014-2016 年西非疫情，那场疫情在两年内导致 28600 人感染，超过 11000 人死亡。

约 80% 的新增病例来自卫生部门正在监测的传播链之外。

非洲疾病控制和预防中心（非洲疾控中心）表示，至少 95% 的病例必须来自感染者的已知接触者，疫情才能被视为得到控制。

此次疫情于5月15日宣布爆发，由邦迪布焦病毒引起，这是一种罕见的埃博拉病毒株，目前尚无获批的疫苗或治疗方法。世界卫生组织（世卫组织）于周五宣布，首个疫苗临床试验已启动。

2026年10月23日，在刚果民主共和国伊图里，一名医务人员正在给患者接种图迈尼埃博拉疫苗。[Dieudonne Dirole/AP]

医疗资源短缺

疫情爆发五个月后，刚果民主共和国的救援人员表示，一些治疗中心不堪重负，而偏远地区和新近受影响地区则缺乏医疗用品和医务人员。

目前，八个省份的 66 个卫生区已记录到病例，而最初几天只有 3 例。

许多医疗队缺乏足够的车辆，难以说服家属将病人送来治疗，并将死者交由医疗队安全安葬。至少有一半的死者生前从未接受过治疗。

疫情爆发扰乱了儿童疫苗接种等常规医疗服务，疫情爆发后不久，一些省份的孕产妇死亡人数翻了一番。

因工资拖欠或未付而引发的罢工屡见不鲜。上周，伊图里省尼亚尼亚镇的埃博拉疫情应对人员因自8月下旬以来一直被拖欠奖金而停止工作。

由于公众对政府应对措施的不信任和不满，医护人员也受到了攻击。

世界卫生组织表示，周六，在乔波省巴夫瓦森德，两名护士在应对一起疑似埃博拉病例时，遭到袭击者杀害，一名护士的同事也受了重伤。

“所有致力于保护社区免受这种致命疾病侵害的人都必须能够在有尊严和安全的环境下工作，”世界卫生组织总干事谭德塞在X上表示。

据其所在政党称，上个月，当地政治家玛丽-塞莱斯坦·卡隆德瓦在电台为埃博拉疫情应对措施辩护后遭到殴打致死。

跨境感染

此次病毒的跨境传播范围比以往任何一次埃博拉疫情都更广。各国政府和国际组织已共同努力遏制跨境感染。

邻国乌干达卫生部长克里斯·巴里奥蒙西周日宣布，作为预防措施，从刚果民主共和国返回的公民必须自费隔离 21 天。

该国官员表示，在夏季记录了 20 例病例（大部分是从刚果民主共和国输入的）和 2 例死亡后，目前该国已无活跃感染病例。

然而，瑞士当局表示，一名嫁给瑞士外交官的女子在9月份访问乌干达期间感染了病毒。

上周，她在访问尼日利亚期间被确诊感染埃博拉病毒，尼日利亚也因此成为第四个受疫情影响的非洲国家。尼日利亚官员已采取应对措施，加强了机场的埃博拉病毒筛查。周一，该患者被送往瑞士接受治疗。

世界卫生组织表示，肯尼亚10月份确诊病例迅速增加。该国首例患者的20名密切接触者在接受21天强制隔离后于周一解除隔离，另有98人仍在接受监测。肯尼亚累计确诊病例已达9例，其中2例死亡。