Congo's Ebola outbreak: 11,042 cases, 5,387 deaths, no known vaccine for Bundibugyo virus

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Congo’s Ebola outbreak has crossed 11,000 cases, the Health Ministry data showed on Wednesday, November 11, 2026, making it the country’s deadliest epidemic on record. A total of 11,042 people have been infected and 5,387 have died — nearly half of those infected — since the outbreak was declared in mid-May. The disease has spread to eight of the country’s 26 provinces.

The outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo virus, a strain of Ebola for which there is no known vaccine or treatment. Congolese authorities have struggled to contain the spread due to ongoing conflicts and a health system crisis, officials said. Medical evidence suggests infections were occurring months before the official declaration in May.

The current outbreak already ranks as the second-largest Ebola outbreak in history. The largest and deadliest occurred in West Africa from 2014 to 2016, with 28,000 infections and more than 11,000 deaths. The Congo outbreak has had at least three times the number of cases and deaths in the same period since declaration compared with the West Africa outbreak.

What was the 2014–2016 West Africa Ebola outbreak?

The 2014–2016 Ebola outbreak in West Africa was the largest and deadliest since the virus was discovered in 1976. It began in Guinea in December 2013 and spread mainly to Liberia and Sierra Leone, with smaller outbreaks in Nigeria, Mali, Senegal, Spain, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States. The World Health Organization declared it a Public Health Emergency of International Concern in August 2014. By the time the outbreak ended in June 2016, there were over 28,000 reported cases and more than 11,000 deaths. The outbreak spurred the accelerated development of the rVSV-ZEBOV vaccine, which was later approved for the Zaire ebolavirus species.

What is the Bundibugyo virus and why is it different?

Ebola virus disease (EVD) was first identified in 1976 near the Ebola River in Congo. The Bundibugyo virus is one of six known species of the Ebolavirus genus, first identified in 2007 in Uganda’s Bundibugyo district. Unlike the Zaire strain, for which vaccines such as rVSV-ZEBOV exist, the Bundibugyo strain has no approved vaccine or treatment. The current outbreak’s fatality rate of nearly 50% is lower than the Zaire strain’s typical rate but still severe, and the lack of a targeted medical countermeasure is a critical gap.

What factors have hindered containment?

The outbreak’s rapid spread to eight provinces highlights systemic failures in public health infrastructure, officials said. Ongoing conflicts in eastern Congo have disrupted contact tracing, isolation efforts, and safe burials. The health system crisis, including weak surveillance and limited laboratory capacity, has delayed detection and response. The fact that infections likely began months before the official declaration underscores the need for stronger surveillance in conflict zones, according to health experts.