Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo
The DRC has experienced 14 Ebola outbreaks since 1976 — more than any other country — including the second-largest in history from 2018 to 2020.
DRC Ebola Outbreaks: A Timeline
| Year | Location | Cases | Deaths |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | Yambuku (then Zaire) | 318 | 280 |
| 1995 | Kikwit | 315 | 254 |
| 2007 | Kasai Occidental | 264 | 187 |
| 2018–2020 | North Kivu / Ituri (2nd largest ever) | 3,481 | 2,299 |
| 2022 | North Kivu | 169 | 77 |
Why the DRC Is Ebola's Epicentre
The DRC's dense equatorial rainforests harbor the bat populations believed to be Ebola's natural reservoir. Human spillover occurs through bushmeat hunting and wildlife contact. The eastern provinces — particularly North Kivu and Ituri — are among the world's most volatile conflict zones, where armed groups attack health workers and destroy Ebola Treatment Centres, creating conditions where standard outbreak response is nearly impossible.
Community mistrust is a critical barrier: decades of exploitation, violence, and top-down public health interventions have created deep suspicion of outside health authorities — including the government, NGOs, and WHO. Rumors that Ebola was a government weapon or that treatment centres killed people hindered case detection and patient care in the 2018–2020 outbreak.
The Vaccine Breakthrough
The 2018–2020 North Kivu outbreak was the first large-scale deployment of the Ervebo (rVSV-ZEBOV) vaccine. A ring vaccination strategy — vaccinating contacts of confirmed cases and contacts of contacts — ultimately reached ~300,000 people. Despite extraordinary challenges (active conflict, community resistance, vaccine logistics in remote areas), the vaccine showed ~97.5% efficacy and the outbreak was declared over in June 2020.
Get Ebola Outbreak Alerts
Frequently Asked Questions
The DRC has experienced 14 Ebola outbreaks since 1976 — more than any other country. The 2018–2020 North Kivu outbreak was the second-largest ever with 3,481 cases and 2,299 deaths, occurring amid active armed conflict.
Ebola is not endemic in the traditional sense — it does not circulate continuously in humans. Rather, the DRC repeatedly experiences zoonotic spillovers from the bat reservoir that inhabits its equatorial forests. These spillovers occur most often in areas of high human-wildlife interface such as forest fringe communities.
Sources: WHO Ebola disease outbreak news; CDC Ebola response; Lancet North Kivu outbreak analysis; NEJM PALM trial; MSF DRC operational reports.
Related: Ebola overview · Ebola history blog · 2019 DRC outbreak archive