The Ebola outbreak that reached Nigeria and Kenya this month started in eastern DR Congo in May. It is now the deadliest outbreak on record in the country.
The outbreak in numbers
- More than 9,000 cases and more than 4,000 deaths since mid-May, according to reports in late October. AP put deaths at at least 4,300 by 17 October.
- The WHO declared it a public health emergency of international concern on 17 May.
- The strain is Bundibugyo, with no approved vaccine or specific treatment.
- It has now been detected in five countries, including Kenya (nine cases) and Nigeria (one imported case, since evacuated).
- Africa CDC’s Director-General, Jean Kaseya, says it is “no longer one country’s fight”.
Health workers without pay
In August, dozens of health workers in Bunia, Ituri province, the epicentre, protested at the governor’s office. They said they had not been paid since May, when the outbreak began. “With this way of managing things, Ebola will not end in this province,” one protester told AP. At the time, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that the outbreak was “spreading faster than our scale-up of the response”. The US announced extra funding, taking its contribution above $500 million.
Lessons for every health system
- Pay and protect frontline staff. Outbreaks are stopped by nurses, cleaners and burial teams who keep turning up.
- Screen for travel at triage in any country with flights or road links to the region.
- Infection prevention basics save lives: hand hygiene, PPE, safe injections and waste disposal.
Related: Bundibugyo vs Zaire Ebola explained · Ebola signs, symptoms and nursing care
Sources: Al Jazeera (21 October 2026); AP via ABC News (17 October 2026); The Gazette Nigeria, citing AP (6 August 2026).