Ebola Outbreak in Congo: 291 Dead and Overcrowded Clinics – Aid Organizations Demand More Treatment Centers

Overloaded Clinics and No End in Sight

Kaseya emphasized that additional treatment centers needed to be built quickly in the Central African country and bed capacities needed to be increased. The authority also warns that the peak of the outbreak has not yet been reached. In none of the previous Ebola epidemics on the African continent has the number of confirmed cases in the first five weeks been as high as in the current one.

The Congolese government has ordered a 21-day quarantine for persons entering from Ebola-affected areas within the country or from abroad. This measure is intended to reduce the risk of infection and ensure continuous tracking of potentially infected individuals.

Difficult Conditions: No Vaccine for the Virus Type

The outbreak is considered particularly difficult to contain because neither a vaccine nor a specific therapy is available for the Bundibugyo virus type. Ebola fever is a life-threatening disease transmitted through physical contact and contact with bodily fluids.

First clinical trials of Ebola medications are to begin next week in Bunia, the capital of the particularly affected province of Ituri in northeastern Congo. In addition, the vaccine Remdesivir, manufactured in the USA and Egypt, which has already arrived in Congo, will be tested there. Remdesivir is a prophylactic agent used after contact with the Ebola virus.

Hope Through New Medications and Clinical Trials

In addition to Remdesivir, the medication MBP134, developed in the USA, is expected to arrive in Congo in the coming days. According to Africa CDC, several companies are working on further vaccine candidates. For the first time in a long while, experimental preparations and therapies are thus available for the current outbreak.

International Aid and Government Measures

The news was broadcast on 25.06.2026 on the Deutschlandfunk program and is based on reports from the dpa news channel. Aid organizations and authorities on the ground are facing a rapidly worsening situation: bed capacities are largely exhausted, new cases are being reported daily, and the health systems in the affected regions are reaching their limits.

International organizations and Congolese authorities are attempting to contain the epidemic through a combination of quarantine measures, the establishment of additional treatment centers, and the testing of new medications. According to Africa CDC's assessment, the success of these measures will critically depend on how quickly additional capacities can be created and vaccines made available.