ReportEbola Epidemic With No Vaccine Kills 3,000 in CongoAired September 15, 2026 at 11:56 AM UTCWritten September 15, 2026 at 11:59 AM UTCRead the write-upThis storyTranscript · LOADING0:11An Ebola strain with no vaccine or treatment has killed 3,000 people in Congo.0:16It is the second worst Ebola epidemic on record and nearly half of those infected0:20die.0:21Why is this outbreak still spreading?0:23The outbreak is centered in Mangualu, a town in Ituri province in the Eastern0:27Democratic Republic of Congo, a region that has known years of conflict.0:32The outbreak began here in May and has grown into the second largest Ebola epidemic0:36ever recorded.0:37More than 3,000 people have died.0:40And for this strain, almost half of everyone infected dies.0:43That is a staggering toll for a single outbreak, and it is still climbing.0:47The first problem is the virus itself.0:49This strain has no vaccine and no medication, so there is no way to prevent0:53infection or treat the disease.0:55The second problem is the people.0:56The mining population here is highly mobile, moving through forested hills along1:00routes epidemiologists cannot trace.1:03The third problem is security.1:04Militias operate in the area, making some villages dangerous or outright impossible1:09for response teams to reach.1:10And the fourth problem is trust.1:12A community fatigued by years of crisis meets the response with suspicion and1:16disinformation.1:17Health workers have been attacked with stones, and a treatment center has been1:21burned to the ground.1:22Inside the town, about 30 patients are fighting for their lives in the treatment1:26center.1:27The main hospital has lost six nurses.1:29That loss hits the response especially hard, because those nurses were part of the1:33very staff stretched thin trying to contain the disease.1:37Against this, a local survivor has joined the epidemiologists.1:40Deo Gracias Casera moves village to village searching for cases.1:44He works against denial and against clinics that lack even basic equipment.1:48His standing in the community is one of the few assets the response has.1:52But he cannot go where militia risk is too high and he cannot treat what he finds1:55where there is no equipment to do it.1:57So the disease finds new ground and the response is left behind.2:01Meanwhile, the nearest danger is moving.2:03Cases are surging roughly 40 kilometers from Mangualu.2:06The response there is constrained by militias operating in the area, making it2:10dangerous for teams to travel, and by funding gaps that mean there are not enough2:14staff or supplies to cover the new cases.2:16So why is this outbreak still spreading?2:18Because the virus has no countermeasure.2:21The population is mobile, militias block access, and a community that has lost trust2:25is pushing back against the very people trying to help.2:28As of mid-September, the outbreak has not been contained.2:31The death toll is still climbing, and with no vaccine or treatment, there is nothing2:34to stop it.Explore with HeyDexFollow via RSSThe shortThe short ↗Related coverageBackgroundOct 21 09:53 UTCAbuja Ebola patient in isolation as Nigeria traces 44 contactsBackgroundOct 21 08:18 UTCKenya’s Ebola cases reach nine as first quarantined contacts near release