Congo's Ebola surge becomes fastest-growing on record, crossing 2,000 deaths

Congo’s Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak — the fastest-growing on record — has killed about 2,000 people (2,011 deaths among 4,381 confirmed cases) as it spreads across five eastern provinces near South Sudan, Uganda and Rwanda. It is the second-largest Ebola outbreak in history, with a case-fatality rate around 45.9% and no approved vaccines or treatments for Bundibugyo. The outbreak began earlier than officially declared (likely February) and responders face challenges from ongoing conflict, poor infrastructure, and misinformation, while early cases were sometimes misclassified as malaria or typhoid; vaccines are in clinical trials, and authorities have restricted gatherings to slow transmission.