PRAYER NEED
Ebola Outbreak Spreads Across Eastern DR Congo
MONUSCO / Mamadou Alain Coulibaly (CC BY-SA 2.0)
What happened
An outbreak of Ebola disease caused by Bundibugyo virus is spreading across eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is the largest Ebola outbreak ever recorded in the country, the World Health Organization has declared it a public health emergency of international concern, and nearly half of those infected have died.
An outbreak of Ebola disease caused by Bundibugyo virus has been spreading across eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo through 2026. The World Health Organization reports the outbreak has reached 54 health zones in six provinces — Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu, Haut-Uélé, Tshopo and Bas-Uélé — with Ituri the most affected.
WHO declared the epidemic a public health emergency of international concern in May 2026. It describes the outbreak as being in a phase of intense transmission: the largest ever recorded in DR Congo, the second largest recorded anywhere, and moving faster than any previous Ebola outbreak. A small number of cases have been recorded beyond DR Congo, in Uganda and France.
The case fatality ratio has remained close to one in two. Health workers are among those at risk, and the response is working across a wide area where reaching people quickly is difficult.
People affected
- People affected
- 5,290
- Lives lost
- 2,516
Current situation
Transmission is ongoing and continuing to reach new health zones. WHO assesses the risk within DR Congo as very high, and high for neighbouring countries. In the most recent reporting 837 patients were hospitalised in isolation and 1,152 people had recovered, with 82.9 per cent of identified contacts under follow-up. Doses of the Ervebo vaccine have been directed to the response, and vaccination continues alongside case-finding, treatment and safe care.
Pray for
- For every family who has lost someone, and for children left without parents
- For those who are ill now, and for the care they receive
- For health workers treating Ebola patients at risk to themselves
- For the teams tracing contacts across remote and hard-to-reach areas
- For containment, so that the outbreak stops spreading into new communities
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