![Congolese medical workers dressed in personal protective equipment carry children tested and cleared of Ebola virus infections at a secured Ebola response zone in Bunia town, Ituri province [File: Gradel Muyisa Mumbere/Reuters]](https://angelnetworknews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/2026-07-31T085504Z_1086036890_RC2EQLA5ZO6Q_RTRMADP_3_HEALTH-EBOLA-1785508479.webp "Congolese medical workers dressed in personal protective equipment carry children tested and cleared of Ebola virus infections at a secured Ebola response zone in Bunia town, Ituri province [File: Gradel Muyisa Mumbere/Reuters]")
The Democratic Republic of Congo has recorded more than 3,500 Ebola infections, making the current epidemic the world’s second-largest on record, according to official figures released Friday.
Confirmed cases stood at 3,532, the Ministry of Communication and Media said in a statement. The toll has now surpassed the country’s previous largest outbreak, which ran from August 2018 to June 2020 and registered roughly 3,470 cases.
A total of 1,556 people have died, giving a case fatality rate of 44.1 percent, data from the Ministry of Public Health showed. Some 807 patients remain in isolation or hospital, while 626 have recovered.
“It’s the fastest spreading Ebola epidemic that we have ever seen,” Carl Skau, acting head of the United Nations World Food Programme, told Reuters. “The world needs to pay much more attention.”
Less than three months since the outbreak began in mid-May, the disease has killed five times as many people as previous outbreaks had by the same stage, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
Only the 2014-2016 West Africa outbreak was larger, with 28,616 cases and 11,310 deaths recorded across Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, the World Health Organization said.
The current epidemic is caused by the rare Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus, for which no approved vaccine or specific treatment exists.
Health workers face additional challenges from insecurity and attacks on facilities in eastern Congo, where numerous armed groups operate, as well as sharp cuts in foreign aid. A lack of public trust and continued reliance on traditional healers have further hindered containment efforts.
“The disease has now settled in the community,” said Angele Gapio, head of emergencies for the Caritas charity in the northeastern city of Bunia. “People continue to seek treatment from traditional healers, and the chain of transmission continues.”
The WHO has warned that the true scale of the outbreak could be up to four times higher than official figures. The Africa CDC estimated in June that $1.4 billion would be needed to contain it, three times its earlier projection.
The virus has spread across five provinces: Haut-Uele, Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu and Tshopo.
