The World Health Organization officially declared the Ebola outbreak in the DRC and Uganda a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern” on May 17, 2026. Since the initial outbreak there have been over 6,700 cases with a roughly 48% fatality rate. Beginning in the remote Ituri province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, this outbreak has rapidly spread to encompass most of the eastern DRC and parts of Uganda. To put into perspective the scale at which this virus has spread, by day 100 of the West African Ebola outbreak in 2014 there was a total number of 759 cases. Day 100 of 2026 had over 5,458. This Ebola outbreak has risen to become the second most deadly outbreak on record and steadily rises every day with no end in sight. Now why is this outbreak so deadly, who has taken action, how is this different from other outbreaks and what happens next? 

(“Ebola Outbreak: Current Situation.” CDC. September 10, 2026)

Why is this outbreak so deadly?

Well first, the elephant in the room: since 2022 the DRC has been experiencing massive amounts of internal conflict and displacement of peoples. Beginning in late 2021, the Tutsi led M23 rebel group launched an offensive in the Northern Kivu province on the grounds that the FRC government had failed to uphold promises from a peace agreement in 2013. Basically, the members of M23 felt as though the government had failed to fully integrate the group into the military and failed to protect ethnic Tutsis from other militant groups such as the Hutu led FDLR (Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda). Since then, this conflict has escalated into a semi-proxy war with the DRC backing the FDLR and the Rwandan government backing the M23. Over eight million people have been displaced as a result of this conflict with 5 million of these coming from the eastern provinces of the DRC: North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri. As a result these areas see limited access to health infrastructure such as diagnostic and laboratory services, infection prevention and control supplies and complications when it comes to contact tracing. Without proper access to healthcare or healthcare workers, preventing the spread of this outbreak has been nearly impossible. The violence against healthcare workers has also resulted in a number of workers becoming infected when treating patients and has increased the security risk to provide treatment. Not to mention the constant migration and displacement of people has made tracking the extent to which the disease has spread nearly impossible. 

                             (African Center for Strategic Studies. “Ebola Epidemic in the DRC: Explainer.” June 23, 2026.)

Another factor which makes this outbreak so deadly is the specific strand of virus which is spreading. Ebola disease is a serious illness that is caused by a group of viruses known as orthoebolaviruses. Of the six types of orthoebolaviruses, only four have been known to cause illness in people: Ebola Virus, Sudan Virus, Tai Forest Virus and the Bundibugyo Virus. The most common of the four, the Ebola or Zaire Virus, was the one responsible for both the first outbreak in 1976 and the massive outbreak in 2014. This was also the first strand to have a working vaccine developed. 

The outbreak in 2026 is caused by the rare Bundibugyo virus and because of its rarity, there has been little research on preventative health measures such as vaccine development or treatment. Bottom line: there is no vaccine. This has made providing treatment an even more complicated task. Not only are healthcare providers facing security risks, they are unsure on how to even provide healthcare. And even worse: how are these healthcare workers supposed to develop a working vaccine with no stable health infrastructure, no safe environment and a population that is constantly moving and constantly on high alert? 

Who is helping?

There has been some discourse surrounding the aid and attention this outbreak has received, especially in comparison to past outbreaks. How is it that an outbreak which is projected to become one of the most deadly Ebola outbreaks in history has received little to no help internationally? The short answer is, it has. Despite claims that the United States has not “done anything” to help, the United States has remained the highest monetary contributor to the Ebola response. In June, the State department pledged over $50 million to go to the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness to develop medical countermeasures to the Bundibugyo virus. This is after the $270 million pledged in direct Ebola response funding. On paper, the United States is doing everything in its power to help the Ebola response. Now what about the reality.

In reality, no one really knows whether or not this “pledged” money has been distributed or if it even exists. With the US no longer coordinating with the WHO, this has led to the distributions of funds to be very opaque and unclear. There is no way to know what the United States has legitimately done for the Ebola response. Additionally, organizations and leaders have come out to criticize countries who have pledged hundreds of millions of dollars but have yet to actually send money. African CDC Director General Dr. Jean Kaseya expressed concern over lack of transparency with the US and harped on the general lack of global response. In particular, he hilariously went after China and their pledge of 4.5 million of which only 2 million has been received. While there has been legitimate aid provided internationally by NGOs and governments, the response has been lacking, especially in comparison to the 2014 outbreak. So why is that?

How is 2026 different from 2014?

Basically everything that was mentioned in this article. Any efforts to help the situation have been met with blockades of violence, poor infrastructure, instability and uncertainty. There is little that can be done to contain the spread of a virus when you can’t contain the spread of affected people, properly identify who said affected people are and you don’t even really know how to help said affected people. In comparison, the countries of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone in 2014 were stable regions that house treatment centers and track the spread of the virus. Not to mention the virus spread relatively slowly which allowed for medical experts to develop countermeasures and gauge the full scope of the virus whereas in 2026, the virus spread at record breaking speed. 

Another elephant in the room that needs to be addressed on the difference between the 2014 response and the 2026 response is the state of geopolitics right now. The United States is already billions of dollars in debt over the war with Iran, the prices of oil have skyrocketed, so many nations are dealing with either the US trade war or an unprecedented natural disaster. The world is not in a position to tackle the Ebola crisis. Beyond the obvious geopolitical tensions, following the global pandemic in 2020 there is something to be said about the “anomaly” of a viral outbreak. It's like pulling teeth out of a tiger to get people to care about the Ebola outbreak because everyone just dealt with a pandemic a few years ago. In the minds of many, as long as what’s happening in the DRC stays in the DRC, they couldn’t care less about the severity of it. Also, a vast majority of people assume either there is some vaccine or treatment for Ebola, or extensive aid is being provided. Neither of which is true. Most of the world remembers the 2014 outbreak, it's not that surprising if people just let information about a new outbreak go in one ear and out the other. Ebola is “old news.” Not to mention this current outbreak has a lot of moving parts and can be confusing to someone with no background knowledge on African affairs. 

There is also something to be said about the domestic shift against providing foreign aid. A majority of Americans would argue that it is not the responsibility of the United States to provide aid to other countries, even if they are in the midst of a deadly pandemic. Especially not a disease that has no real impact on American lives. For instance, there were a few cases of Ebola on American soil in the 2014 outbreak which launched the crisis from a far off tragedy to a backyard emergency. All this to lead into one final question:

What Happens Next?

The short answer is, we don’t know. 

As mentioned before, there are many working parts to this outbreak. There can’t be a vaccine without proper funding and research. There can’t be proper research if all the subjects are being massively displaced. There isn’t a way to stop people from being massively displaced if there are no efforts to halt violence in the region. There’s no way to halt violence in the region if there is no international intervention. There can be no international intervention if there are no transparently allocated funds. There can be no allocated funds if governments and their people simply just don’t care. 

So what is there to do?

Well, for right now, caring can do a lot.