The Democratic Republic of Congo has reported 26 additional suspected Ebola deaths within a single day, as the virus spreads to a densely populated urban area. Health authorities confirmed the figures on Tuesday, raising the total death toll from the eastern outbreak to 131.
Escalating Crisis
The World Health Organization’s director-general expressed deep concern over the accelerating outbreak. Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told the World Health Assembly in Geneva that the scale and speed of the epidemic were alarming, particularly as cases emerge in urban settings and among healthcare workers.
As of Tuesday, Congo has recorded 516 suspected and 33 confirmed cases, with two additional confirmed cases in neighbouring Uganda. The rare Bundibugyo strain prompted Dr Tedros to declare a public health emergency of international concern on Saturday.
Urban Spread
Butembo, a city of several hundred thousand in North Kivu province, reported its first two confirmed cases on Monday, according to Dr Jean-Jacques Muyembe, director of Congo’s National Institute for Biomedical Research. This marks a worrying expansion of the outbreak into a densely populated area.
Ebola spreads through direct contact with bodily fluids from infected individuals or animals. Symptoms include high fever, vomiting, and internal and external bleeding. The WHO notes that the average fatality rate is around 50 percent, ranging from 25 to 90 percent in past outbreaks.
International Response
One American, identified as Dr Peter Stafford, tested positive for Ebola while working in Congo, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed on Monday. Dr Stafford and six other exposed Americans are being transferred to Germany for care and monitoring. The US State Department has mobilised an initial $13 million in foreign assistance for immediate response efforts.
Unlike the more common Zaire strain, no approved virus-specific therapeutics or vaccines exist for the Bundibugyo strain. The US is working on developing a monoclonal antibody therapy as a potential treatment, the CDC said. A WHO-led panel of experts will meet Tuesday to discuss possible vaccine options.
The US officially left the WHO in January, a move President Donald Trump attributed to the organisation’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Historical Context
An outbreak of the Zaire strain from 2018 to 2020 in Ituri and North Kivu provinces was the second deadliest on record, killing nearly 2,300 people. That response was complicated by widespread armed violence in eastern Congo, which continues to pose challenges. One Ebola case has been confirmed in Goma, the capital of North Kivu, which was seized by M23 rebels in 2025.
