Health · Congo EbolaCongo Ebola Surges Past 4,500 Cases — Could Become Deadliest EverAired August 15, 2026 at 2:37 AM UTCWritten September 7, 2026 at 9:22 PM UTCRead the write-upThis storyTranscript · LOADING0:00More than 4,500 confirmed infections0:02[music] and more than 2,100 deaths have0:04now been reported in the Bundibugyo0:06Ebola outbreak in the Democratic0:07Republic of Congo, spreading almost0:09three times faster [music] than the0:10outbreak more than a decade ago. The0:12scale alone is stark, with the death0:14toll already above 2,100, and this early0:17[music] picture comes from a single0:19August 14th broadcast drawing on World0:21Health Organization assessments, with0:23many elements still unfolding. The0:25[music] warning attached to those0:26numbers is that this outbreak is on0:28track to become the deadliest on record,0:31potentially eclipsing the more than0:3211,000 deaths reported in West Africa in0:35[music] 2014 to 2016, if community0:38spread is not interrupted, an outcome0:40not yet confirmed.0:47Between [music] 60 and 70% of0:49Ebola-related deaths are occurring in0:50communities rather than in treatment0:52facilities, while diagnostic capacity0:54remains [music] constrained and0:55frontline health workers have gone 30:56months without pay, and there are no0:58approved vaccines or therapeutics for1:00the Bundibugyo strain, which kills1:01between [music] a quarter and half of1:02those infected. That leaves families1:04facing a highly lethal virus at home1:06[music] without proven medical1:07protection, without rapid testing to1:09find and isolate cases, and without1:11stable care where transmission is1:12highest,1:13>> [music]1:13>> making gaps in diagnostics, pay, and1:15countermeasures the decisive factor in1:17whether the toll keeps accelerating.1:19Like and follow for more stories that1:21matter.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