NewzBUNIA, Congo (AP) — The fast-moving Ebola outbreak in Congo has reached 10,000 confirmed cases, government data showed Tuesday, as health authorities race to slow the spread of the disease in multiple African countries.It is the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak in history and nearly half of the 10,060 confirmed to have the virus have died, according to data from Congo’s Ministry of Health. That also makes it the deadliest outbreak of the disease in the country’s history.The outbreak declared in May is caused by the rare Bundibugyo virus, for which there is no approved vaccine or treatment. Response teams are battling armed conflict, poor roads and violence from residents fueled by mistrust and misinformation.
Those obstacles compound the challenge of persuading people to report symptoms and accept care in communities that have endured years of violence and repeated epidemics.Compared to the West Africa Ebola outbreak of 2014-2016 – history’s largest and deadliest with more than 28,000 cases, including over 11,000 deaths – this has had at least three times the number of cases and number of deaths in the time since it was declared.It has spread farther across Africa than any previous Ebola outbreak, reaching three regions with cases recorded in Kenya and Nigeria as well. It’s so far been recorded in five countries including Uganda and France, both of which have no active cases at the moment.A recurring problem in the spread in Africa is what appears to be lax surveillance efforts as most of the first cases were confirmed long after people started showing symptoms or after traveling.African health ministers are to hold a virtual summit on Wednesday to strengthen the continent's collective response. Our response must move faster, with stronger coordination, greater solidarity and decisive political leadership,” Dr.
Jean Kaseya, head of Africa CDC, has said.At least 2,600 patients have recovered from the disease in Congo, bringing rare moments of joy to affected communities. A viral video this week showed health workers in full protective gear dancing as the last two patients were discharged from a treatment center in Mongbwalu, Ituri province.“The outbreak is far from over, but every life saved is worth celebrating,” World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said of the video.80% of new cases in Congo are ou… A World Health Organization (WHO) map showing the geographical distribution of confirmed cases of the ongoing Ebola Bundibugyo virus across regions of the Democratic Republic of Congo, as of October 20, 2026.
SPECIAL REPORT | Uganda insists it has contained its Bundibugyo virus disease outbreak, but cases in Kenya and Nigeria, conflicting accounts of the patients’ movements and questions about the source of infection have put its public-health assurances under renewed scrutiny, reports Ronald Musoke. In May, this year, as Uganda confronted the latest outbreak of Ebola, the country’s Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Health, Dr Diana Atwine, made a categorical declaration during a meeting with donors and diplomats in Kampala. “We have never exported Ebola,” she said.
“For the nine epidemics we have had, not even one (case of Ebola has been exported). But, five months later, Uganda’s public-health record is facing an uncomfortable test. A woman who was recently diagnosed with Bundibugyo virus disease in Nigeria is said to have travelled from Uganda, while a man who died of the same disease in Kenya is believed to have also passed through the country enroute to his homeland.
Epidemiologists in Bunia, Kampala, Abuja and Nairobi are now examining whether the two cases might be connected. In Kampala, the government maintains that Uganda’s outbreak was brought under control, and it unilaterally declared the epidemic over on July 28, about a dozen days inside the World Health Organization’s official countdown. It says no further confirmed cases have been recorded in the country since then.
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