Africa CDC Chief Warns DRC Ebola Outbreak Could Become Worst on Record

A race against a virus with no vaccine

Africa CDC Director-General Jean Kaseya issued a stark warning on June 16, 2026, telling a virtual summit of African heads of state that the Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda could surpass every prior Ebola epidemic on record — including the 2014–2016 West Africa outbreak that killed more than 11,000 people.cidrap At least 875 confirmed cases and 202 deaths have been recorded, with the WHO warning that new infections are appearing in fresh geographic areas on a "near-daily" basis.straitstimes The outbreak was declared on May 15, after it had already silently infected hundreds in the DRC's conflict-wracked Ituri province.forbes

Missing thousands and a shrinking funding pool

The most alarming figure in Kaseya's briefing was not the confirmed death toll but the invisible one: "We are missing more than 26,000 people, and we don't know where they are, and we don't know if they are contaminating other people," he told Al Jazeera.aljazeera WHO Incident Manager Dr. Marie-Roseline Belizaire added that "we are missing cases" a full month after the outbreak was declared.forbes The Bundibugyo strain — unlike the Zaire strains behind earlier outbreaks — has no approved vaccine or treatment, leaving health workers able only to manage symptoms.doctorswithoutborders A 2007 Bundibugyo outbreak carried a roughly 32% fatality rate.forbes

International funding has barely materialized. Donors have pledged $910 million, including $80 million from African Union member states, but less than $90 million — under 10 percent — has actually been disbursed.straitstimes African Union Chair Burundian President Évariste Ndayishimiye noted only about one-fifth of the $518 million joint Africa CDC–WHO response plan has been raised.aljazeera On June 18, the U.S. CDC announced $107 million in emergency funding and more than 125 staff deployed across DRC and Uganda, while noting the domestic risk remains low.straitstimes

Conflict and distrust deepen the crisis

Eastern DRC provides a near-perfect environment for viral amplification. Decades of ethnic conflict — most recently the M23 rebellion — have displaced communities and made contact-tracing operations dangerous or impossible in rebel-held territory.aljazeera Attacks on health facilities have compounded the problem: in early June, a group stormed a hospital treating Ebola patients; earlier, treatment tents were torched in Mongbwalu after locals were barred from retrieving the bodies of loved ones.forbes Stigma and disbelief that Ebola is real — rather than a government ruse — push infected people to avoid reporting symptoms.aljazeera

The virus has crossed borders: Uganda has recorded 19 confirmed cases and two deaths, and the Africa CDC has flagged 10 neighboring countries as at risk.forbes +1 The closure of USAID and European funding rollbacks have hollowed out the surveillance networks that helped contain prior outbreaks.aljazeera Kaseya warned that without an urgent shift, containment could take up to a year — and this could still become the deadliest Ebola epidemic in history.cidrap