No nation on Earth has faced Ebola more often than the DRC. The disease was first named here, after the Ebola River, in 1976. Scroll to trace every recorded outbreak, year by year, from above.
17
outbreaks since 1976
4,829
reported cases, 1976-2025
3,273
reported deaths, 1976-2025
2
virus strains: Zaire & Bundibugyo
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Half a century on the front line
3,481cases in the 2018-2020 epidemic, DRC's deadliest
28,646cases in West Africa, 2014-2016, the largest ever
17thoutbreak now under way, 2026
From a single mission hospital at Yambuku in 1976 to an outbreak unfolding today amid conflict and displacement, Ebola keeps returning to the same forests and river towns. Each time, responders go back in: to find cases, vaccinate contacts, and care for the sick.
