The Democratic Republic of the Congo’s 17th Ebola epidemic surpassed 11,000 confirmed cases, marking the deadliest outbreak in the nation’s history.
Deadliest Toll and Shifting Hot Spots
As of November 10, the National Institute of Public Health recorded 11,114 confirmed cases, including 5,433 deaths, resulting in a case fatality rate of 48.9 percent. Declared on May 15, the crisis stands as the second-largest Ebola epidemic ever recorded worldwide, trailing only the 2014–2016 West Africa outbreak.
The #Ebola outbreak has expanded significantly over the past month, with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) reporting 11,114 confirmed cases and 5,433 deaths as of November 11. Read our full situation report on ReliefWeb: https://t.co/0T1XG6qwBU pic.twitter.com/lsxpvfu1Yn
While infections have slowed in Ituri Province—the initial epicenter that still accounts for roughly 70 percent of all confirmed cases—the virus has spread to eight of the country’s 26 provinces. Neighboring North Kivu experienced a surge in infections, emerging as the primary site of new transmission.
Recent figures published by the government on Wednesday show 11,042 recorded infections and a total of 5,387 fatalities resulting from the outbreak. Nearly half of those infected have died, and almost 3,000 people have recovered. The Government of the DRC has updated its national response plan through January 2027.
DR Congo Ebola outbreak: despite successes in containing deadly disease in transmission hotspots, armed violence is holding back response as infections spread in rural and hard-to-reach eastern and northeastern provinces @UNOCHA @WFP @WHO https://t.co/eDc3edm26N
Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, warned during a briefing to Member States on Wednesday, November 11, 2026, that the outbreak remains a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. The WHO chief emphasized that immunization efforts alone will fall short of stopping the virus, stressing the critical need for prompt medical intervention, tracking exposed individuals, quarantine measures, respectful and secure burials, and fostering confidence through community outreach.
Armed Conflict Disrupts Humanitarian Response Efforts
The humanitarian campaign faces severe disruption from armed conflict, notably attacks linked to the Islamic State and the Allied Democratic Forces. A recent assault in North Kivu’s town of Cantine-Aloya left 66 civilians dead, including three health workers, and resulted in three facilities being looted and burned.
DR Congo: 71 Ebola cases have been detected along transit routes, @UNMigration reports.https://t.co/7nopK9jkXu
“This appalling attack represents both a major humanitarian emergency and a significant setback to the response,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organisation (WHO).
The violence disrupted contact tracing across active hot spots, leaving more than 1,000 contacts lost to follow-up and three confirmed cases unaccounted for. United Nations Senior Ebola Response Coordinator Julien Harneis said that armed violence has created an immediate danger, stating that more people have been killed by ADF violence than by the virus in recent days.
$700 MILLION MISSING while #Ebola spirals out of control in DR #Congo. Hundreds of millions in aid vanished, leaving frontline workers unpaid, clinics without water, and ambulances out of fuel as over 5,400 people die. Where did the money go??? https://t.co/IDbxrlQuPR
Samuel Scarpino—who serves as a public health and health sciences professor at the Bouvé College of Health Sciences as well as executive director of the Institute for Experiential AI—has characterized managing this specific crisis as an extreme convergence of difficulties.
“The question of how knowledge of population movements has helped guide the response is an important one,” Raoul Kamadjeu, a public health specialist at the United Nations Children's Fund, UNICEF, in Nairobi, Kenya, said. Jean-Jacques Muyembe, who helped discover Ebola in 1976, now heads Congo’s National Institute for Biomedical Research.
“The mobility data really tells us how many people are going between the different health zones,” Samuel Scarpino, a public health and health sciences professor at the Bouvé College of Health Sciences and executive director of the Institute for Experiential AI, said.
A nurse was killed and a health worker seriously injured in Bafwasende, Tshopo Province, in late October, representing the latest in a pattern of violence. Other incidents included a grenade found near a health zone office, gunfire near an Ebola treatment center, an arson attempt on a treatment center, stones thrown at a vehicle conducting safe and dignified burials, and threats against health workers.
Surveillance Gaps and Financial Discrepancies
Médecins Sans Frontières released a report warning that the outbreak remains out of control as frontline staff struggle with shortages and unpaid wages. Close to two-thirds of Ebola-related deaths over the past month occurred in communities rather than treatment centers.
MSF urged the Congolese government and UN agencies to strengthen oversight and accountability to ensure money already disbursed is effectively utilised, stating that the response was too slow in North Kivu province while Haut-Uélé remained dramatically overlooked.
Our teams are often left speechless by the dysfunctions they witness in many areas. Six months into the response, this situation is simply unacceptable.
Dr Javid Abdelmoneim, MSF International President
Financial accountability has drawn intense scrutiny after the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention reported that $700m (£527m) out of $962m disbursed to organizations implementing the Ebola response was unaccounted for.
Africa CDC chief Jean Kaseya characterized the issue as a major transparency and financial reporting failure rather than embezzlement. Congolese health officials said that aid agencies were required to provide details of their work so the ministry could provide oversight, but only 22 percent had done so.
Our requirement is clear: transparency must be total. The response relies on a single plan, a single budget, and a single coordination.
Roger Kamba, Congolese Health Minister
Bundibugyo Virus Strain Spreads Across Borders
The current epidemic is driven by the Bundibugyo virus, a rare strain for which no licensed vaccine or approved treatment exists. WHO expert groups recommended adding two experimental vaccine candidates to the Tumaini clinical trial in the DRC following trials that began in October.
Beyond the DRC, the virus has crossed international borders. Kenya discharged all surviving Ebola patients and released its final monitored contacts after 21 symptom-free days. Nigeria reported only one confirmed imported case, involving a 42-year-old woman diagnosed in Abuja in October who was subsequently evacuated to Switzerland with her spouse for treatment.
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