2026 Ebola outbreak on track to surpass deadliest ever, WHO warns

The World Health Organization has warned that the 2026 Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is on course to surpass the deadliest outbreak in history, which killed more than 11,000 people between 2014 and 2016. The current outbreak, declared on 15 May, actually began around February — three months earlier than officials realised — and has already recorded at least 4,300 cases and more than 2,000 deaths.

WHO warning

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the outbreak would "eclipse" the 2014-16 West Africa disaster if the current pace continued. WHO Africa director Dr Mohamed Janabi, speaking from Bunia in eastern DR Congo, said: "We are chasing the virus, the virus is ahead of us." The WHO hopes to reverse the trend within three months, though that would mean controlling transmission rather than ending the outbreak.

Why it is so hard to contain

Authorities are only reaching roughly 30% of cases because of deep regional instability in eastern DR Congo. The virus is the Bundibugyo species of Ebola, which has only caused two prior outbreaks — in Uganda in 2007 and 2012. There is currently no approved vaccine or therapeutic drug for the Bundibugyo strain. However, the UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency recently approved the first human clinical trials of a Bundibugyo vaccine developed by an Oxford University team using the same platform as the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. Three other research groups are also developing candidate vaccines, and the WHO is sponsoring clinical trials in DR Congo testing two antiviral drugs.

Symptoms and spread

Ebola symptoms include fever, headache, vomiting and diarrhoea, with an incubation period of two to 21 days. The disease can progress to organ failure and is spread through direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person. The combination of an uncontained outbreak zone, a novel Ebola species with no approved countermeasures, and a pace exceeding the deadliest recorded outbreak has prompted the WHO to treat the situation as a global health emergency.