(New York / DRC) – More than 1,000 Ebola-related deaths have now been confirmed since the World Health Organization declared an outbreak of the Ebola virus on May 15, 2026. The outbreak, with its epicenter in Bunia, Ituri Province, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), involves the Bundibugyo strain for which no approved vaccine or specific treatment exists. Risking their own safety, Congolese health workers are struggling to contain the virus and provide patient care as attacks on health care workers and facilities increase, amid armed conflict, mass displacement and steep funding cuts.
“The Ebola outbreak is unfolding in a context where health systems have been significantly weakened by conflict and drastic cuts to global health and humanitarian assistance,” said Thomas McHale, SM, public health director at Physicians for Human Rights. “The Congolese health workers we spoke with know what is needed to stop this outbreak: security, resources, and support to safely partner with communities and provide lifesaving care. Their expertise and leadership must guide the response.”
As of July 23, 2026, the WHO reports 2,536 confirmed cases of Ebola. The true number of infections is likely substantially higher, as official figures reflect only cases known to health authorities. More than 80 percent of new cases are being detected outside of known contact lists, highlighting the difficulties health workers face in tracing transmission and containing the outbreak.
Attacks on health facilities by armed groups, as well as by family and community members frustrated by gaps in essential health services and fueled by misinformation and mistrust, have further hindered efforts to identify cases, trace contacts, and ensure people feel safe seeking care.
Health professionals working in the region told PHR that field teams tracking the spread of Ebola lack funding for basic needs including fuel, communications, and transportation.
A chief medical officer of a health zone in eastern DRC described the challenges facing field teams trying to conduct disease surveillance: “We manage as best we can to meet certain needs, such as fuel, and even then, we need to have a vehicle available to conduct field visits. Most of the time, however, these missions cannot be carried out because of a lack of resources.”
Health care workers are particularly vulnerable to Ebola. A doctor in Bunia, approximately 70 kilometers (about 43.5 miles) southwest of Mongbwalu, where the first cases were recorded, told PHR: “I became ill. I was vomiting, I had diarrhea, and I had a high fever. No one knew what was wrong with me. It was only four days later, when the outbreak was declared, that I understood it was Ebola. By then, I had already infected my wife. […]”
A second doctor in Bunia reported that some facilities had closed because they lacked infection prevention and control supplies, while others were temporarily closed for decontamination following a case of Ebola.
Facilities operating without support from external partners regularly lack adequate infection prevention and control equipment. Because many essential items are single-use and must be continually replenished, facilities are forced to repeatedly purchase supplies at local markets or order them from Kampala, with no alternative source of steady supply.
Health workers speaking with PHR also reported unsafe working conditions, strikes, severe exhaustion, delayed salary payments, and a growing sense of helplessness. A nurse in Bunia told PHR: “It is stressful to see a colleague die. Some people refused to receive care when they saw that health workers themselves were dying.”
The infection and death of health workers weaken medical teams and further reduce public confidence in health facilities.
Armed Conflict Is Worsening the Outbreak and Obstructing the Ebola Response
Ituri, the epicenter of the outbreak, remains affected by armed conflict and intercommunal violence. Insecurity restricts access for health and humanitarian teams, prevents essential supplies from reaching facilities, and makes contact tracing and community surveillance more difficult. Violence is also driving mass displacement of communities into internally displaced persons camps where overcrowding, interrupted care, and limited health infrastructure increase the risk of transmission.
On July 6, 2026, in the Baboa-Bokoe chiefdom, members of the Front patriotique et intégrationniste du Congo (FPIC) reportedly prevented a humanitarian organization from continuing a mission to deliver infection prevention and control kits to a local health center.
These pressures extend beyond Ebola. People displaced from affected areas may lose access to routine and emergency health services. As Physicians for Human Rights has reported, women and girls displaced by conflict also face increased risks of sexual violence, exploitation, and abuse.
Attacks Against Ebola Response Personnel Are Increasing
According to a recent analysis by Mercy Corps, 68 security incidents targeting the Ebola response were recorded in Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu between May 15 and June 30, 2026. These included 51 attacks on personnel, health facilities, vehicles, or equipment, 14 incidents of threats or intimidation, and three abductions or unlawful confinements. The violence damaged at least 11 Ebola health facilities or treatment centers, injured 30 humanitarian workers and 11 government officials, and forced disruptions to the response.
“The grim milestone of 1,000 reported deaths must catalyze urgent action, not only to contain the Ebola outbreak, but also to address the conditions fueling its spread. An effective response requires safe humanitarian access, protection of health care, sustained financing, continuity of essential health services, and meaningful leadership and participation by Congolese health workers and affected communities,” concluded McHale.
Physicians for Human Rights calls on the Congolese government, the World Health Organization, Africa CDC, the United Nations, donors, humanitarian organizations, and all parties to the conflict to urgently strengthen the Ebola response by providing sustained funding and the human, logistical, and technical resources needed to support frontline health workers; ensuring safe and unhindered humanitarian access; protecting health facilities, health workers, patients, and medical supplies from attack; strengthening surveillance, contact tracing, and laboratory capacity; engaging communities as active partners in the response; maintaining essential non-Ebola health services, including care for survivors of sexual violence; and ensuring that health workers receive regular pay, adequate equipment, psychosocial support, and safe working conditions.
Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) is a New York-based advocacy organization that uses science and medicine to prevent mass atrocities and severe human rights violations. Learn more here.