Ebola deaths in DRC surge past 1,300 as virus ‘spreading like a wildfire’ - Al Jazeera

The death toll from the latest Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has surpassed 1,354, a rise of more than 40 percent in just five days, according to government figures released on 25 July 2026.
Confirmed cases, including deaths, climbed to 3,075, a 27 percent increase over the previous week, making it the fastest-spreading Ebola outbreak ever documented.
The outbreak involves the Bundibugyo variant, the rarest of the four Ebola strains affecting humans, which currently has no approved vaccines or treatments.
Public health consultant Abdulsalami Nasidi, who helped establish the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, said the absence of a proven vaccine meant the virus was "spreading like a wildfire," worsened by the outbreak unfolding in an area of active conflict.
The University of Oxford's Oxford Vaccine Group reported that a volunteer received the first dose of a rapidly developed experimental vaccine on Friday, described by chief investigator Katrina Pollock as an important milestone in a multinational effort.
By comparison, the 2013–2016 West Africa outbreak — the largest in history — killed more than 11,000 people across Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone and took about eight months to reach its first 1,000 deaths, while the current DRC epidemic passed that mark in under 10 weeks.