The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that the deadly Bundibugyo virus outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is continuing to expand. Rising numbers of cases and deaths are putting mounting pressure on health services and humanitarian efforts to respond.
Scale of the outbreak
As of Sunday, DRC health authorities had reported 3,200 confirmed Ebola cases and 1,405 related deaths across the provinces of Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu, Haut-Uele and Tshopo. Since the previous report on Saturday, more than 125 new confirmed cases and 51 deaths have been reported.
Currently, 773 patients are hospitalized in isolation, while 571 individuals have successfully recovered from the Bundibugyo virus.
Ituri Province remains the hardest hit, accounting for 2,848 cases and 1,184 deaths across 28 of its 36 health zones.
Across all affected provinces, nearly 78 percent of identified case contacts are currently under active follow-up.
The highly contagious Bundibugyo virus is relatively unfamiliar compared to other strains. However, it killed around 30 percent of infected persons during previous outbreaks in Uganda (2007) and the DRC (2012).
The disease typically begins with flu-like symptoms, including fever, which can mask its true identity before progressing to a full-blown illness characterized by severe bleeding and a fatality rate of around 40 percent.
At least five provinces are now affected by the outbreak: Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu, Tshopo, and Haut-Uele. According to the Congolese Ministry of Health, ten provinces are now considered high-risk, including Kinshasa. The current outbreak was declared more than two months ago.
Humanitarian response efforts
On Monday, OCHA said that the UN and its partners continue to support the Congolese authorities with surveillance, contact tracing, laboratory testing and patient care.
The World Food Programme (WFP) has provided over 23,000 patients, contacts and vulnerable people affected by the outbreak in Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu provinces with more than 140,000 hot meals and food.
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and its partner organizations have conducted over 27,000 household visits to support the identification and monitoring of suspected cases within affected communities.
Meanwhile, preparedness efforts are underway beyond the provinces affected by Ebola. On Monday, the WHO launched training for hygiene specialists at the General Reference Hospital in the Bas-Uele province to reduce the risk of further spread.
UN aid agencies, the Red Cross movement and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) remain committed to supporting the authorities' response. OCHA reiterated on Monday that continued international support is critical to expanding treatment capacity, sustaining response operations and containing the outbreak.
Intersecting crises: Conflict, displacement and hunger
The Ebola outbreak is worsening against a backdrop of escalating violence and mass displacement in eastern Congo, which puts civilians at further risk and complicates efforts to contain the disease. The health emergency comes amid an already severe humanitarian crisis.
This year, nearly 15 million people in DRC need humanitarian assistance. More than half of the country's displaced population — 3.4 million people — are living in areas affected by the outbreak, which further exacerbates the situation.
The humanitarian crisis in the DRC is one of the world's longest-running and most neglected emergencies. Ongoing armed conflict continues to drive the crisis, and the country's human rights and humanitarian situation has steadily deteriorated for years, prompting repeated warnings from the United Nations.
The UN continues to warn that insecurity is affecting humanitarian operations in North Kivu. Last week, renewed violence along the border between the provinces of Ituri and North Kivu forced more people to flee their homes in areas affected by the virus.
Attacks against health facilities, population displacement and restrictions on movement in areas affected by insecurity undermine patient monitoring, community awareness activities and access to healthcare.
The eastern provinces, particularly Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu, have experienced decades of violence as non-state armed groups compete for control of the region’s natural resources. Last year, escalating hostilities spread further across the region, triggering widespread displacement and continuous population movement, as well as heightened protection risks for civilians.
The need for humanitarian assistance remains substantial across the country. Millions of people have been displaced and have lost their homes, farmland, livestock and income. Meanwhile, persistently high food prices, disrupted supply chains and frequent outbreaks of other diseases, such as cholera, measles and mpox, are pushing vulnerable communities closer to collapse.
The country is facing one of the world’s largest and most severe hunger crises, primarily due to conflict in the eastern provinces and large-scale displacement. According to the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis, over 26.5 million people — almost a quarter of the Congolese population — are currently unable to meet their basic food needs.
The latest IPC update revealed that over 3.6 million children, women and men are currently experiencing emergency-level food insecurity (IPC Phase 4), indicating critical food shortages that endanger their survival without immediate humanitarian assistance. This is currently the largest number of people facing Phase 4 conditions globally.