Ebola in Congo: more than 5,300 dead, with no vaccine or treatment for the Bundibugyo strain

The death toll in the current Ebola epidemic has passed 5,300, most of them in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said, Morning Star reported. The Bundibugyo strain has infected about 10,444 people in DR Congo, Uganda and Kenya, with a fatality rate above 50 percent.

Congo declared the outbreak on May 15, 2026. It is the country's 17th Ebola epidemic and the largest in its history. According to Discover Magazine, transmission may have begun as early as February around the mining town of Mongbwalu in Ituri province, which accounts for about 85 percent of confirmed cases.

No vaccine

There are no approved vaccines or targeted drugs for Bundibugyo virus; the licensed Ebola vaccine was developed for a different strain. Clinical trials of the Ervebo vaccine have begun, and the World Health Organization is evaluating possible treatments.

The WHO rates the risk as very high within Congo and low globally.