DR Congo Ebola outbreak reaches 9,552 confirmed cases

Disease

Severity score55 / 100 · High

How the score is calculated

The score starts at 8. It adds points from recorded affected, deaths, displaced and casualty counts, plus terms found in the story title, event type or status. For each count, only its highest matching band is used.

Affected people: 1–999: +5 · 1,000–9,999: +12 · 10,000–99,999: +20 · 100,000–999,999: +28 · 1 million+: +35
Deaths: 1–9: +8 · 10–99: +14 · 100–999: +22 · 1,000+: +30
Displaced people: 1–9,999: +6 · 10,000–99,999: +12 · 100,000+: +18
Casualties: 100 or more: +8
Story wording: +10 for terms such as catastrophe, famine, war, conflict, major earthquake, mass casualty or critical. Otherwise, +5 for active, ongoing, emergency, outbreak, cyclone or hurricane.

Score bands: Watch 0–24 · Moderate 25–49 · High 50–74 · Critical 75–100. Scores are capped at 100. Missing or unparseable figures add no points.

This is a rule-based WorldsAid triage indicator, not an official or independently validated classification. It does not account for recency or local context, and it can understate events with incomplete reporting. Check the linked sources.

Last verified21 Oct 2026

Date: 20 Sept 2026
Status: ACTIVE OUTBREAK · 9,552 CONFIRMED CASES · 4,602 CONFIRMED DEATHS · WHO DATA AS OF 18 OCT 2026
Aid Zone: AFRICA
Countries: Congo - Kinshasa
Agency: World Health Organization

In brief

What happenedThe Bundibugyo virus disease outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo reached 9,552 confirmed cases as of 18 October 2026, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) daily epidemiological update.
How many affectedAffected persons: 9,552 · Deaths: 4,602 · Confirmed cases: 9,552 · WHO cumulative total as of 18 October 2026
What help is neededResponse priorities should be confirmed in the linked source reports as needs change.

What changed

Updated verified snapshot

This record was first dated 2026-09-20 and last verified 2026-10-21T21:01:19Z.

Situation

The Bundibugyo virus disease outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo reached 9,552 confirmed cases as of 18 October 2026, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) daily epidemiological update. The total included 4,602 confirmed deaths and 2,550 recoveries. This is an increase of 137 confirmed cases, 66 confirmed deaths and 28 recoveries from the 16 October country snapshot. WHO notes that government figures may be retrospectively revised.

The preceding weekly report recorded 65 affected health zones across seven provinces, with Dakwa Health Zone in Bas-Uélé the latest area affected. The report said incidence remained high and fluctuating, with no sustained downward trajectory. Ituri remained the main focus, while persistent or renewed transmission continued in North Kivu and Haut-Uélé. Conflict, insecurity, displacement and limited access to services continued to complicate surveillance, contact tracing, infection prevention and timely care.

WHO confirmed one imported Bundibugyo virus disease case in Nigeria on 20 October. The patient, a woman with recent travel history to Uganda, is in isolation and receiving care in Abuja; 44 contacts have been identified for monitoring. WHO also reported that Kenya had nine cases linked to an imported case. Nigeria and Kenya remain separately scoped and are not added to the DR Congo total in this story. Uganda and France also remain separate country records. A current, attributable same-event image matching this update was not found after review, so the story remains published without an event image; the verified Democratic Republic of the Congo country-map template provides geographic context.

WorldsAid verification

A WorldsAid editor reviewed this record against 9 attributed sources, cleaned feed formatting and checked the crisis, place and reporting date. 17 human-impact figures were separated from the narrative and dated where the source allowed. Earlier observations remain in the evidence history instead of being silently overwritten.

Verified figures

Affected persons: 9,552 retained at 2026-10-21T21:01:19Z
Deaths: 4,602 retained at 2026-10-21T21:01:19Z
Confirmed cases: 9,552 · WHO cumulative total as of 18 October 2026 retained at 2026-10-18
Confirmed deaths: 4,602 · WHO cumulative total as of 18 October 2026 retained at 2026-10-18
New confirmed cases since Report 18 (historical snapshot): 475 retained at 2026-09-29
New confirmed deaths since Report 18 (historical snapshot): 222 retained at 2026-09-29
Affected health zones: 65 across seven provinces in DR Congo · WHO as of 11 October 2026 retained at 2026-10-11
Most recently affected area: Dakwa Health Zone, Bas-Uélé · WHO Situation Report 22 dated 11 October 2026 retained at 2026-10-11
Confirmed recoveries: 2,550 · WHO as of 18 October 2026 retained at 2026-10-21T21:01:19Z
Change from weekly report 21 to report 22: 463 additional confirmed cases · 233 additional confirmed deaths · reports dated 4 and 11 October 2026 retained at 2026-10-11
WHO multi-country total: 9,583 confirmed cases · 4,605 confirmed deaths · 2,569 recoveries; country reporting dates differ retained at 2026-10-21T21:01:19Z
Kenya (separate country scope): 9 confirmed cases · 1 confirmed death · WHO daily table · data as of 20 October 2026 retained at 2026-10-20
Nigeria (separate imported case): 1 confirmed case in isolation · 44 contacts monitored · WHO Nigeria · 20 October 2026 retained at 2026-10-21T21:01:19Z
Separate CDC DRC snapshot: 8,787 confirmed cases · 4,242 confirmed deaths · as of 7 October 2026 retained at 2026-10-21T21:01:19Z
Historical WHO DON618 snapshot: 7,890 confirmed cases · 3,799 deaths · 63 health zones · as of 23 September 2026 retained at 2026-10-21T21:01:19Z
IFRC regional response update: 3 million people targeted · CHF 27.5 million requirement · 129.4% funding coverage · 9 October 2026 retained at 2026-10-21T21:01:19Z
Change since prior daily snapshot: 137 additional confirmed cases · 66 additional confirmed deaths · 28 additional recoveries retained at 2026-10-21T21:01:19Z

What we knew when

2026-09-20WorldsAid record entered the retained historical dataset.
2026-10-21WHO multi-country table · 9,583 confirmed cases · 4,605 confirmed deaths · 2,569 recoveries preserved as a dated, source-linked observation. Source
2026-10-19WHO daily epidemiological update · 9,415 confirmed cases · 4,536 confirmed deaths · 2,522 recoveries in DR Congo preserved as a dated, source-linked observation. Source
2026-10-15WHO daily epidemiological update · 9,277 confirmed cases · 4,478 confirmed deaths · 2,486 recoveries in DR Congo preserved as a dated, source-linked observation. Source
2026-10-16WHO reports three confirmed Bundibugyo Ebola cases in Kenya, including one death preserved as a dated, source-linked observation. Source
2026-10-13WHO daily epidemiological update · 9,144 confirmed cases · 4,410 confirmed deaths · 2,418 recoveries in DR Congo preserved as a dated, source-linked observation. Source
2026-10-12WHO daily epidemiological update · 9,066 confirmed cases · 4,361 confirmed deaths · 2,389 recoveries in DR Congo preserved as a dated, source-linked observation. Source
2026-10-11WHO Situation Report 22 · 9,066 confirmed cases · 4,381 confirmed deaths · 2,389 recoveries · 65 health zones across seven provinces preserved as a dated, source-linked observation. Source
2026-10-09T00:00:00Z3 MILLION PEOPLE TARGETED · CHF 27.5 MILLION REQUIREMENT · 129.4% FUNDING COVERAGE · 9 OCTOBER 2026 preserved as a dated, source-linked observation. Source
2026-09-29WHO EXTERNAL SITUATION REPORT 19 · 7,733 CONFIRMED CASES · 3,732 DEATHS · DATA AS OF 20 SEPTEMBER 2026 preserved as a dated, source-linked observation. Source
2026-10-06WHO DISEASE OUTBREAK NEWS DON618 · 7,890 CONFIRMED CASES · 3,799 DEATHS · 63 HEALTH ZONES ACROSS SEVEN PROVINCES · DATA AS OF 23 SEPTEMBER 2026 preserved as a dated, source-linked observation. Source
2026-10-06WHO reports 8,728 confirmed Bundibugyo virus disease cases, 4,205 confirmed deaths and 2,269 recoveries in the Democratic Republic of the Congo as of 6 October 2026, across 64 health zones in seven provinces. Alimbongo in North Kivu is newly affected. WHO also reports a laboratory-confirmed imported case in Kenya; the patient died on 5 October, and contact tracing was initiated in Kenya and Uganda. preserved as a dated, source-linked observation. Source
2026-10-07CDC reports a separate 7 October snapshot of 8,809 total confirmed cases and 4,245 confirmed deaths: DRC 8,787 cases and 4,242 deaths; Kenya 1 case and 1 death; Uganda 20 confirmed cases and 2 confirmed deaths plus 1 probable case and 1 probable death; France 1 confirmed case and no death. preserved as a dated, source-linked observation. Source
2026-10-10WHO reports 8,978 confirmed cases, 4,336 confirmed deaths and 2,356 recoveries in the Democratic Republic of the Congo as of 10 October 2026. preserved as a dated, source-linked observation. Source

Earlier figures are never replaced by later values; additional observations are retained as new ledger entries.

Provenance

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Cached dataset: worldsai_drup771.sql.gz

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