Congo's fast-moving Ebola outbreak started month before it was declared, WHO says

August 10, 2026 - 18:31

The World Health Organization has revealed that the current Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo began in February, well before the government officially declared the emergency in May. This new information suggests the virus had been circulating undetected for roughly three months, which helps explain why the outbreak has proven so difficult to contain.

According to the WHO, the first confirmed case was actually a woman who died in early February in the rural town of Bikoro. Her death was not initially linked to Ebola, and health workers only identified the virus when the outbreak had already spread to multiple locations. Since the official declaration on May 8, the number of cases has climbed rapidly, with at least 58 suspected or confirmed infections and 27 deaths reported so far.

Health officials believe the delay in detection gave the virus a head start. The outbreak has now reached Mbandaka, a city of over one million people, which raises the risk of wider urban transmission. The WHO is deploying hundreds of workers and thousands of vaccine doses to the region, but the early timeline means contact tracing is more complex. Many people who may have been exposed in February have since moved or died, making it harder to track the chain of transmission.

The WHO also noted that the outbreak is moving faster than previous ones in the country, partly because the affected area includes both remote villages and densely populated towns. Local health systems are stretched, and there is concern that cases may have gone unnoticed in other communities. The agency is urging neighboring countries to step up surveillance, even as it works with Congolese authorities to contain the spread. The coming weeks will be critical, as health teams race to identify and isolate new cases before the virus gains more ground.