Congo Ebola outbreak approaches 1,000 deaths, now second-deadliest on record

An Ebola outbreak from the Bundibugyo virus strain has killed nearly 1,000 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo since May 2026, WHO and CDC data show. It now ranks as history's second-deadliest Ebola outbreak, surpassing the 2018–2020 eastern DRC episode. Only the 2014–2016 West Africa epidemic, which claimed over 11,000 lives, was worse.