BUNIA, Democratic Republic of the Congo — The death toll from an expanding Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has surpassed 5,000, according to government figures released Saturday, as medical workers confront the nation’s deadliest wave of the virus on record.
Data from the Congolese Ministry of Health showed 5,026 people have died out of 10,351 reported infections, reflecting a lethality rate of nearly 50 percent, ABC News reported. The outbreak, declared in mid-May, is now the second-deadliest Ebola crisis in global history, eclipsed only by the 2014 to 2016 epidemic in West Africa that took more than 11,000 lives across Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Unmonitored Transmission and Strained Centers
Containment efforts face steep obstacles because the current crisis is driven by the Bundibugyo strain of the virus, for which there are no approved treatments or vaccines. Doctors and nurses are limited to offering supportive therapy based on symptoms while clinical trials remain months away from yielding results, according to officials cited by The Guardian.
Health authorities have struggled to trace contacts and isolate patients. The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention reported that roughly 80 percent of new infections originate outside monitored contact networks, indicating widespread untracked community transmission. In addition, about one-third of recorded fatalities happen outside specialized treatment centers before victims can be tested, the World Health Organization confirmed.
“These are people we never had opportunity to try to save them and it is one of the biggest concerns for us in this outbreak,” Dr. Patrick Otim, a WHO program area manager, told ABC News.
The vast majority of Congolese casualties remain concentrated in the eastern provinces of Ituri and North Kivu, where 9,782 infections and 4,792 deaths have been recorded across areas already destabilized by violence. Active insurgencies involving the Rwanda-backed M23 militia and the Allied Democratic Forces have sharply restricted access for international aid personnel.
Strikes, Violence and Border Crossings
Response operations are further hindered by severe local mistrust, violence against medical staff and prolonged payroll delays. A nurse was killed while responding to an alert last week, and a politician was slain in September after promoting health guidelines on public radio, ABC News reported. Health workers have repeatedly downed tools over unpaid wages, including a walkout Friday at a treatment center in Tchomia where staff reported four months without pay.
The virus has also crossed international borders, making this the first outbreak recorded across three distinct African regions:
- Kenya has confirmed eight cases and two deaths, prompting Saudi Arabia on Friday to suspend entry and pause visas for travelers arriving from the country.
- Uganda has reported two fatalities.
- Nigeria recently recorded a case in Abuja linked to travel from Uganda, with the patient later evacuated to Switzerland.
- France confirmed one imported infection in June involving a physician who had worked in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Africa CDC Director General Dr. Jean Kaseya has urged global leaders to bolster border testing and fulfill outstanding financing, warning that of three billion dollars pledged by international donors, more than two billion dollars has yet to be delivered. Kaseya plans to convene African health ministers and heads of state in November to seek humanitarian corridors through eastern Congo’s conflict zones, while international researchers continue monitoring vaccine trials expected to deliver preliminary results in early 2027.
