FILE PHOTO: A health worker in PPE stands near displaced people at Kigonze displaced persons camp in Bunia, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, awaiting the burial of suspected Ebola victims, 18 June 2026.;
Credit: Reuters/Gradel Muyisa Mumbere/File Photo
(Reuters) - The Democratic Republic of Congo's confirmed Ebola cases have risen above 4,000 for the first time in the current outbreak, according to government data reported by Reuters on Friday 7 August 2026.
The epidemic, the world's second-largest, has been described as the fastest-spreading on record.
Experts believe infections started circulating months before the outbreak was declared on 15 May 2026 and that the true number of cases could be much higher than the official tally.
The Central African country's public health institute said in its latest report that the total number of infections had reached 4,053, including 1,850 deaths.
Cases have been recorded in five provinces in the country: Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu, Haut-Uele and Tshopo.
A report published in the journal Science last month concluded that Congo's outbreak had started in January, or even earlier, in Ituri. Researchers identified more than 500 suspected cases between mid-January and 15 May.
Delayed detection, overwhelmed surveillance, military conflict and a lack of vaccines and treatments for the species of the virus involved have allowed the disease to outrun containment efforts this time.
So far only West Africa's 2014-16 outbreak has been bigger, with over 28,000 cases recorded across Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
