WHO Reports 8,700 Confirmed Ebola Cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
11:30 9 October, 2026More than 8,700 cases of Ebola have been recorded in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) since May, with more than 4,200 patients having died. The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported.
According to the WHO's latest situation report, “as of October 6, 2026, a total of 8,728 confirmed cases and 4,205 confirmed deaths had been recorded in the country,” putting the case fatality rate at approximately 48.2%. Since the previous edition of the WHO's Ebola situation report was published on September 25, the DRC has recorded 775 additional confirmed cases, including 379 deaths.
Since September 25, the Ebola outbreak has spread to the Alimbongo health zone in North Kivu Province, thereby expanding the “geographical reach of the epidemic.” It now affects 64 health zones across seven provinces in the country's east. Ituri Province has been particularly hard hit.
The WHO noted that “transmission remains intense at the national level, although the burden is unevenly distributed.” Some areas “show clear signs of a slowing epidemic, while in others it continues to intensify.” The persistently high death rate, along with the large number of deaths occurring outside healthcare facilities, “continues to indicate delays in detecting the disease and accessing appropriate medical care.”
The current Ebola outbreak began on May 15 in the DRC and Uganda. Ugandan authorities announced on July 28 that the outbreak in their country had ended. The WHO confirmed this on August 25. On October 6, Kenyan authorities reported the country's first Ebola case. The infected individual, a Kenyan citizen who had visited the DRC, died in hospital.