THE Ebola outbreak In Congo, it’s creating new hot spots where there is little or no support for patients, responders and officials say, while health workers admit there could still be some. a long way to go to fight against the disease which killed more than 4,000 people.
More than 70% of new cases still come from people outside of known contacts and at least 60% of deaths are outside treatment centers, Africa CDC Director General Dr. Jean Kaseya told The Associated Press. “There are so many more people getting sick who are not being tested or treated or listed,” Kaseya said Tuesday.
THE Isolated province ravaged by the North Kivu conflictwhich has become the new epicenter, now represents around 40% of all new confirmed cases in Congo, compared to 24% at the end of August. But the response on the ground is “chaotic,” said Stephanie Hoffmann, project coordinator with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). “There is a lack of coordination and organization, but there is certainly a lack of actors present here,” Hoffmann told the AP.
A health worker is disinfected at an Ebola treatment center in Beni, North Kivu province, Congo, Saturday, September 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Sebastien Kitsa Musayi)
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Congo’s deadliest Ebola outbreak — caused by the Bundibugyo virus, for which there is no approved vaccine or treatment — was declared in May under some of the the harshest conditions imaginable fueled by mass population movements, rebel violence, mistrust and the poor well-being of frontline workers.
Congo has recorded more than 8,500 cases in the outbreak, according to government data, making it the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak on record and the country’s deadliest. Tuesday, Kenya reported its first case of Ebolaa man who arrived from Congo and died while receiving treatment.
The biggest challenge so far is contact tracing, Dr Kayesa said. So far, only 23% of expected contacts of Ebola patients have been traced. The disease is spreading in a region of Congo where there is intense population movement due to economic activities, conflict-related displacement and mining, and where there is deep distrust of the government and misinformation about the virus.
“I can’t tell you when we can stop this outbreak unless we implement a village-centered approach,” the Africa CDC chief said, calling for direct involvement of villages and local leaders in contact tracing, burial of deceased patients and isolation of cases.
Treatment Centers Overwhelmed as Other Health Facilities Support
Many Ebola treatment centers in North Kivu are struggling with shortages of health workers and supplies, contributing to more deaths among patients, the World Health Organization said.
North Kivu’s case fatality rate of 58% is the highest among Congo’s seven affected provinces. The disease has spread to half of its 34 health zones. In nine of the 17 affected areas, more than half of patients with confirmed infection have died, according to Health Ministry data.
Desperate for access to care, patients in some regions of North Kivu have turned to traditional health facilities, MSF said.
Health workers prepare to bury a woman who died of Ebola in Bunia, Congo, Friday, September 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Dieudonne Dirole)
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“Local health workers are the ones who feel this the most, as they have to make the decision between sending their community members home so they can die alone or putting themselves at risk to help treat them in their health center,” said Hoffmann, coordinator of MSF’s Ebola treatment center in Butembo, North Kivu.
Some families are reluctant to report a death
Nearly five months after the outbreak was declared, it has become harder to track in parts of North Kivu, where residents still have “a hard time believing the disease exists,” said Michel Ngimba of the National Biomedical Research Institute in Butembo.
He described cases in which families were reluctant to report a death or allow a sample to be taken from a deceased person with Ebola symptoms. In other cases, families “want to organize funerals quickly,” Ngimba said, which could create new chains of transmission because the bodies of people who die from Ebola are highly contagious.
“The situation has become more difficult to monitor (and) monitoring has to deal with very fluid and sometimes difficult to document situations,” he said.
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AP writer Sébastien Kitsa Musayi in Beni, Congo contributed.
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