Congo Ebola outbreak may be worst ever, Africa CDC says

Published June 16, 2026 9:51pm

Dz’na Lipe Jean Marie, secretary of the displacement camp, speaks during an Ebola awareness session as humanitarian agencies intensify efforts to contain a new Ebola outbreak involving the Bundibugyo strain, at Kpangba displacement camp where Ebola cases were observed, Djugu territory in Ituri province, Democratic Republic of Congo, June 13, 2026.

NAIROBI/DAKAR - The head of Africa's Centres for Disease Control and Prevention warned on Tuesday that the Ebola outbreak in Congo could be the worst ever, saying that currently tens of thousands of contacts of those ill with the disease had not been traced.

"If we don't stop the outbreak very soon it will be worse than what we had in West Africa and eastern DRC," Africa CDC Director-General Jean Kaseya told a virtual meeting of African heads of state in Burundi.

He was referring to the outbreak that affected Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone in 2014-2016 that killed over 11,000 people and a less deadly 2018 outbreak in Congo. — Reuters

Congo Ebola outbreak may be worst ever, Africa CDC says

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