More than 1,000 cases of contamination have been recorded in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where an Ebola disease epidemic declared on May 15 has caused more than 250 deaths so far, according to the latest official figures published on June 23, 2026.
The Congolese National Institute of Public Health (INSP) has recorded 1,003 cases and 254 deaths, representing an average case fatality rate of 25.31 per 100,000 deaths. Almost all cases are reported in Ituri (91.31 per 100,000 deaths and 80.71 per 100,000 deaths), a remote province in northeastern Congo plagued by violence from armed groups.
The DRC's testing capacity, very low at the start of the epidemic, has improved, which partly explains the increase in the number of recorded cases. However, international humanitarian organizations and NGOs deployed on the ground unanimously believe that the official figures are still underestimated.
In the DRC, three provinces in total are affected: Ituri, neighboring North Kivu, and South Kivu, which together represent an estimated population of 15 million people. The virus, which causes hemorrhagic fever, has also spread to Uganda, where authorities declared on June 11 that the situation was " under control“Twenty confirmed cases, including two deaths, have been recorded in the country bordering the DRC.”
The epidemic is caused by the Bundibugyo virus, for which there is currently no vaccine or treatment. The vaccines developed are only effective against the Zaire virus, responsible for the largest known Ebola outbreaks to date. The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, and the Africa CDC estimates that ten countries in the region are at risk. Ebola has killed more than 15,000 people in Africa over the past 50 years.
"Out of control"
In Ituri, the health response, which relies on isolating the sick and tracing contacts, has been strengthened but is still struggling to organize itself. At the beginning of the epidemic, local hospitals were quickly overwhelmed, and the Ebola treatment centers subsequently set up with teams from the WHO and several NGOs are already recording an occupancy rate of over 801 patients, according to the INSP (National Institute of Public Health).
Health facilities, which often operate with limited resources in one of the world's poorest countries, still lack protective equipment and chlorine, more than a month after the official declaration of the epidemic. Some 78 healthcare workers have been infected with the virus and 18 have died, according to the National Institute of Public Health (INSP).
Healthcare workers and aid workers are also facing significant distrust from local communities. Reluctance to accept post-mortem samples leads to an underestimation of the number of cases. Incidents in hospitals have been reported in recent weeks, notably caused by angry residents demanding the bodies of relatives who died from the disease.
Humanitarian workers and epidemiologists say the peak of the epidemic has not yet been reached and fear the health crisis could last between six months and a year. The epidemic was declared approximately two months after the first suspected deaths were reported around March 20th. During this period, the disease spread unchecked to an extent we do not yet know.", explains a representative of an international humanitarian organization to AFP on condition of anonymity.
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