The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) confirmed via its public health agency on Sunday that at least 2,325 people have died of Ebola infections in the current outbreak in the east of the country, making it the deadliest such outbreak in the country’s history.
Experts noted that the extremely high death toll is likely not a full count of the people killed by the disease, as the World Health Organization (W.H.O.) was slow to identify an outbreak in the affected area, and that only one other known Ebola outbreak – the 2014-2016 outbreak in Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia – has resulted in more deaths. The death rate of identified patients has increased in the past few months and resources to aid those diagnosed remain insufficient, health experts lament.
The current public health emergency is an outbreak of Ebola Bundibugyo, a strain for which no treatment or cure has been approved at press time.
Even amid a challenging #Ebola outbreak in the #DRC, science can move rapidly and responsibly when we work together. Here is a quick update on the ongoing Bundibugyo vaccine and treatment candidate trials ⬇️
We are working with partners to accelerate this critical research. pic.twitter.com/pCLlcWdONo
— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) August 13, 2026