The Director General of the World Health Organisation, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said on Wednesday that the current Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is on track to surpass the deadliest outbreak of the disease ever recorded. Speaking to reporters, he said that at its current pace, the 2026 outbreak would “eclipse” the 2014-2016 epidemic, which killed at least 11,000 people, mostly in West Africa.
The outbreak in DRC was officially declared on May 15, but health officials said this week that it is believed to have begun spreading at least three months earlier, in February, with early cases initially misdiagnosed as malaria or typhoid. As of now, it has recorded at least 4,300 cases and caused more than 2,000 deaths.
The WHO said it had hoped to reverse the spread of the disease, however the international body insisted this meant bringing transmission under control, not ending the outbreak entirely. “We are chasing the virus; the virus is ahead of us,” said WHO Africa director Dr Mohamed Janabi, speaking at a news conference in Bunia, near the centre of the outbreak.
The 2026 outbreak is caused by the rare Bundibugyo species of Ebola, which has previously caused only two known outbreaks, in 2007 and 2012. There is currently no approved vaccine for this strain, and no therapeutic drugs available to treat it, unlike the more common Zaire strain, for which vaccines exist.
According to Janabi, ongoing turbulence near the outbreak’s location has further complicated containment efforts, with health authorities facing significant challenges in controlling the disease’s spread as a result of the instability.
— Daily Archives, World Desk