By Brian Kiprono - Reporter
DRC, 19 May 2026 - Health workers in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo are battling to contain a fast-moving Ebola outbreak that has already left communities gripped by fear, with hundreds of suspected infections reported and no approved vaccine immediately available.
The World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday warned that the outbreak is spreading quickly across parts of Ituri and North Kivu provinces, where conflict, displacement and weak healthcare systems are complicating emergency response efforts.
So far, more than 500 suspected cases and 130 suspected deaths have been reported, although only 30 infections have been officially confirmed.
“We have significant uncertainty about the number of infections and how far the virus has spread,” WHO representative in DRC Dr Anne Ancia said while briefing journalists from Bunia in Ituri province.
The outbreak involves the rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, a form of the virus for which there are currently no approved vaccines or treatments.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has already declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern, citing concern over the “scale and speed of the epidemic”.
Health officials say tracing the source of the outbreak has proven difficult.
According to Dr Ancia, the first known case involved a person who died in Bunia before their body was transported to Mongbwalu for burial.
“What we know for now is that on 5 May, there was…a person who died in Bunia,” she explained.
“The family decided that the coffin was not worth the person. And therefore…they changed the coffin. And then there was the funeral, and it's from where it started.”
WHO says funeral practices and close community contact are now among the biggest drivers of transmission.
The outbreak has since spread beyond Ituri into North Kivu, including the cities of Butembo and Goma. Uganda has also confirmed two imported cases linked to the outbreak.
Doctors initially struggled to identify the disease because local tests came back negative for the more common Zaire strain of Ebola.
Patients were also showing symptoms similar to other illnesses, including fever, fatigue, diarrhoea and vomiting, making diagnosis more difficult.
The Bundibugyo virus was only confirmed after samples were tested in Kinshasa.
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WHO says discussions are ongoing over possible vaccine candidates, but any rollout could take months.
One vaccine under consideration is Ervebo, commonly used against the Zaire Ebola strain, but Dr Ancia warned that “it would take two months for it to be available”.
For now, health officials say community trust may prove more important than medicine in stopping the outbreak.
“If we use coercive measures and the population does not agree, we will see bodies disappear. We will see suspected cases refusing to come to the hospitals and health facilities,” Dr Ancia warned.
WHO teams are currently working with schools, churches and local leaders to combat misinformation and encourage safer burial practices.
More than 40 WHO health professionals have already been deployed to support the government response, alongside additional testing kits and medical supplies.
The crisis is unfolding in one of the most fragile parts of the country, where years of violence have displaced millions of people.
The UN refugee agency says over two million internally displaced people and returnees are living in the affected provinces, raising fears that crowded camps and poor sanitation could accelerate transmission.
There are also growing concerns for refugees in the region, including South Sudanese, Rwandan and Burundian communities now in need of urgent medical and sanitation support.
The outbreak has revived painful memories of the devastating Ebola epidemic that hit eastern DRC between 2018 and 2019.
And while hopes remain that a vaccine could eventually help contain the spread, WHO officials warned the crisis may not end quickly.
“Remember the previous one, it took two years,” Dr Ancia said.