The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has claimed at least 2,011 lives this year, according to the latest official figures. Authorities warn the crisis could escalate into the country’s deadliest health emergency on record. Government data released late Tuesday evening confirmed 4,381 confirmed cases of the virus.

Where the first 1,000 deaths took nearly nine weeks to accumulate, the death toll doubled in just three weeks—a stark indication that the outbreak is outpacing containment and response efforts.

Health officials cite severe logistical hurdles as a major driver of the surge in cases and fatalities. Remote communities remain difficult to reach due to ongoing rebel violence, deteriorating road networks, and healthcare worker strikes triggered by unpaid salaries.

Dr. Jean-Marie Akandabo, a physician treating patients at a local clinic in Ituri Province, called the situation “alarming” and urged immediate intensification of response efforts in affected areas.

This marks the 17th recorded wave of Ebola in the country, already considered the most extensive in the DRC’s history. “This outbreak has the potential to become the largest ever recorded,” warned Sania Nishtar, CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.

The current case fatality rate stands at 45.9%, significantly higher than the 39.6% recorded during the West Africa Ebola epidemic of 2014–2016, which remains the deadliest in history with over 11,000 deaths from 28,000 cases.

State of emergency

Officially declared on May 15, genetic sequencing reveals the outbreak likely began months earlier, in February. A national health emergency has been activated in response.

This outbreak differs from previous ones because the rare Bundibugyo strain currently circulating lacks approved vaccines or treatments. Clinical trials have begun in Ituri Province, the epicenter of the crisis in eastern Congo.

Humanitarian workers report that response efforts are struggling to keep pace with the outbreak, which has spread across five provinces in the east. Healthcare staff have gone on strike repeatedly over unpaid wages, and the World Health Organization notes that most new cases are occurring outside monitored contact chains—signaling that transmission remains largely uncontrolled.

“Without an effective vaccine, controlling the outbreak depends entirely on identifying cases early and isolating patients in secure facilities until recovery or, tragically, death,” said Professor Paul Hunter, an infectious disease specialist at the University of East Anglia in the UK. “In a conflict-ridden, remote region with disrupted communications, routine surveillance becomes nearly impossible, and early case detection to prevent spread is often unattainable.”

On Friday, WHO vaccine experts recommended launching a large-scale human clinical trial using the only currently licensed Ebola vaccine, Ervebo, to assess whether it provides cross-protection against the Bundibugyo strain driving the outbreak in the DRC, for which no specific vaccine exists.

Ervebo has proven safe and effective against the Zaire Ebola strain, and preliminary animal data suggest it may offer partial protection against the Bundibugyo strain now spreading in the DRC. Two candidate vaccines against Bundibugyo are in early human trial phases, with a third in development and preparing for testing.

Dr. Mohamed Yakub Janabi, WHO Regional Director for Africa, admitted that authorities are “running after the virus, which has a head start.”

Ebola spreads through contact with bodily fluids and causes severe hemorrhagic fever. The virus was first identified in 1976 near the Ebola River in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo.