DR Congo Bundibugyo Ebola Outbreak Passes 8,700 Cases as Kenya Confirms Imported Case

The Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has become the second-largest Ebola epidemic on record, according to WHO figures highlighted in reporting on 10 October 2026. As of 7 October, DRC authorities had recorded 8,728 confirmed cases and 4,205 confirmed deaths, a case fatality rate of 48.2%. Sixty-three new cases were reported in a single day across Ituri province (33) and North Kivu (30); Ituri remains the epicentre with 6,480 cumulative cases and 2,989 deaths across 28 affected health zones. On 5 October, WHO was informed of a laboratory-confirmed imported case in Kenya in a traveller arriving from DRC, raising fears of regional spread; around 200 contacts were being traced. Unlike the better-known Zaire strain, there is no licensed vaccine or treatment for Bundibugyo virus, and responders led by WHO, Médecins Sans Frontières and Congolese health authorities are relying on isolation, contact tracing and supportive care. Humanitarian agencies warn that ongoing armed conflict in eastern DRC is hampering surveillance and vaccination of health workers with experimental products, while clinical trials of candidate monoclonal antibodies are being accelerated.