EASTERN CONGO — The Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo has caused 1,707 deaths out of 3,802 recorded cases as of Tuesday. The crisis is driven by the Bundibugyo virus strain, for which there are no approved vaccines or treatments available.

Health authorities declared the outbreak on May 15. Since that date, the epidemic has expanded across the region, with Ituri province accounting for nearly 90% of all recorded cases. Cases have also been confirmed in five other provinces, including Kisangani. Patient zero has not yet been identified in the outbreak.

Africa CDC Director-General Jean Kaseya addressed the trajectory of the disease during a visit to Bunia. He stated it is not clear when the outbreak will reach its peak. Kaseya said nearly 80% of new cases are resulting from community spread rather than contact tracing. Displacement from armed conflict and illegal mining have hindered contact tracing efforts.

The strain on the healthcare system has led to labor disputes. Healthcare workers in Mongbwalu issued an ultimatum regarding unpaid wages on Monday. "If nothing is done within 24 hours, we will escalate our action," healthcare workers in Mongbwalu stated.

This follows previous actions where healthcare workers in Bunia went on strike over unpaid wages and dangerous working conditions. More than 100 healthcare workers have been infected since the beginning of the outbreak.

Community behavior is shifting as fear of isolation grows. Deaths occurring outside health centers in Ituri nearly doubled, from 9.1% to 17.4%, as women avoid facilities due to fear of quarantine. The World Health Organization is monitoring over 17,000 potential contacts, with nearly 80% seen daily. World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus is scheduled to arrive in Kinshasa and visit Bunia later in the week.

Scientific responses are underway despite the lack of approved countermeasures. Two clinical trials for post-exposure prophylaxis drugs are ongoing in Ituri province. Additionally, two separate vaccine trials are ongoing in the U.K. and Canada.

Vasee Moorthy, Acting head of the WHO’s R&D Blueprint programme, spoke at a press briefing in Geneva. He stated that researchers have been able to start trials more quickly in this outbreak compared to previous ones. Moorthy said preclinical data for experimental treatments is promising. He stated that only clinical trials will determine whether experimental medicines and vaccines are effective.

Regional developments show mixed progress. Uganda declared itself free of Ebola in mid-June after discharging its last patient. An updated Rapid Risk Assessment is currently being developed in advance of the upcoming IHR Emergency Committee meeting regarding the epidemic of Ebola Bundibugyo virus disease scheduled for 18 August.

The current death toll of 1,707 represents 44.9% of the 3,802 total cases. This rate exceeds the mortality pace of the 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak, which resulted in approximately 28,000 cases and over 11,000 deaths. During that earlier epidemic, it took approximately eight months for the death toll to reach 1,000. Earlier coverage on 2026-07-22 reported that Congo's Ebola outbreak had killed nearly 1,000 people, indicating a rapid acceleration in fatalities in recent weeks.

The outbreak has broader implications for public health infrastructure. Research titled Impact of Eastern Congo Ebola Outbreak on Child Health Services Delivery: Decline of Routine Child Immunization and Need for Vaccine was published in 2022 in Current Research in Vaccines Vaccination. Trust issues also persist, as showed by a study titled Institutional trust and misinformation in the response to the 2018–19 Ebola outbreak in North Kivu, DR Congo: a population-based survey published in 2019 in The Lancet Infectious Diseases. General information on the pathogen is available in research titled "Ebola virus outbreak" in AccessScience.

Why It Matters

The absence of approved vaccines or treatments for the Bundibugyo strain leaves health systems reliant on unproven clinical trials while community spread drives nearly 80% of new infections. Labor disputes over unpaid wages and dangerous conditions threaten to further degrade response capacity in a region where over 100 healthcare workers have already been infected. With the death toll accelerating faster than in the 2014-2016 epidemic, the inability to identify patient zero or halt transmission poses a critical risk of regional expansion beyond the current six affected provinces.