KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of the Congo — The International Rescue Committee, IRC, has warned that the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo could become “the deadliest outbreak on record” without urgent international funding and coordination.
The warning came on Wednesday, May 27, 2026, as the World Health Organization, WHO, said earlier this week that the DRC had recorded more than 900 suspected Ebola cases and 220 suspected deaths.
The outbreak has also reached neighbouring Uganda, where seven confirmed cases have been reported, including one death.
The epidemic is being driven by the Bundibugyo virus, a rare Ebola strain for which there is no proven vaccine, complicating efforts by health authorities and humanitarian workers to contain transmission.
In a press release, the IRC, a New York-based humanitarian aid organisation founded in 1933, said the outbreak was spreading faster than response efforts in the DRC.
It called for “urgent international funding and coordination,” citing regional conflict and cuts in aid funding as major obstacles to containment.
“The warning signs are flashing red,” Bob Kitchen, the IRC’s vice president of emergencies, said.
“Eastern DRC is confronting this outbreak more fragile and less prepared than during the 2018-2020 outbreak that killed more than 2,000 people — and with fewer resources to fight it,” Kitchen said.
“Increased conflict and cuts to global aid funding have dismantled defenses at exactly the wrong moment. The lesson from every previous outbreak is clear: delays cost lives.”
Red Cross Volunteers Among Suspected Victims
The warning followed the deaths last week of three Red Cross volunteers in Ituri Province, the epicentre of the outbreak in the DRC.
The Red Cross said the volunteers, Alikana Udumusi Augustin, Sezabo Katanabo and Ajiko Chandiru Viviane, were believed to have contracted Ebola while managing dead bodies.
Ebola, first identified in 1976, is a severe illness that can cause fever, weakness, diarrhoea, vomiting and, in some cases, bleeding.
