As of October 15, CDC reports 9235 confirmed cases and 4444 deaths in the Bundibugyo virus Ebola outbreak in the DRC, now the second-largest on record.
News|Articles|October 17, 2026
FAQ: Ebola Prevention, Treatment and the Chances of a US Outbreak
As the Bundibugyo virus outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo surpasses 9300 confirmed cases and 4400 deaths, this FAQ explains how the virus spreads, how it presents, why it is hard to diagnose and treat, which vaccines and therapies are being tested, and why CDC considers the risk to the United States low.
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On May 15, 2026, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) Ministry of Public Health declared an outbreak of Ebola disease caused by Bundibugyo virus (species Orthoebolavirus bundibugyoense), with transmission initially centered in Ituri province in the country's northeast.1 Five months later, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports 9300 confirmed cases and 4481 confirmed deaths as of October 14, nearly all of them in the DRC, where cases have now been confirmed in Bas-Uele, Haut-Uele, Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu, Sud-Ubangi, and Tshopo provinces. According to the agency, the outbreak is spreading substantially faster than previous Ebola outbreaks and is now the second-largest on record. No cases linked to the outbreak have been confirmed in the United States, and CDC considers the overall risk to the American public and travelers to be low.2
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