The current Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) is spreading faster than health authorities can contain and is on track to be the deadliest on record. Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that at its current pace, the 2026 outbreak would “eclipse” previous occurrences of the disease. The last major Ebola crisis, which occurred from 2014 to 2016, killed over 11,000 people and accelerated the push to develop a vaccine against the virus. The outbreak this year, declared on May 15, has already seen at least 4,300 cases and caused more than 2,000 deaths, making it the fastest-moving Ebola outbreak on record. Despite only being officially declared in May, the outbreak is believed to have begun at least three months before then, health officials have said. The current outbreak is being driven by the rare Bundibugyo strain of the virus, for which there is no approved vaccine or treatment. Speaking to reporters, WHO officials said they hoped to reverse the spread of the disease in DR Congo within three months, but warned that this did not mean ending the outbreak entirely. Efforts to contain the virus have been hampered by the remoteness of DR Congo and the ongoing conflict near the country’s borders with South Sudan, Uganda and Rwanda WHO Africa Director Dr. Mohamed Janabi said at a news conference: “We are chasing the virus; the virus is ahead of us.”
