The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is rapidly worsening, with the United Nations warning that the response must be significantly accelerated to prevent the virus from spreading even further.
In a statement issued in Geneva on August 14, 2026, Tom Fletcher, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, said the outbreak is the fastest-growing on record and warned that it could become the deadliest.
“The epidemic is killing someone every 30 minutes,” Fletcher said, adding that more than 2,000 people have already died.
Fletcher said he chaired an emergency meeting of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee on Friday, where leaders of the world’s largest humanitarian organisations agreed to rapidly strengthen their joint response.
He noted that progress has been made since the UN activated a collective humanitarian scale-up in early June. According to him, regional agency leadership has been strengthened, a Senior Ebola Coordinator has been deployed, and international donors have provided nearly US$300 million.
Fletcher also announced an additional US$30.5 million from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF).
The new funding comes on top of reportedly US$24 million previously allocated to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and four neighbouring countries to address the outbreak.
Another 20 staff members have been deployed to frontline operations, he added.
Still, Fletcher said the situation requires much more urgency. The UN’s response plan calls for doubling the number of teams carrying out safe and dignified burials, tripling treatment capacity, strengthening contact tracing and bringing in more experienced managers.
The response must also address urgent needs for water, hygiene, healthcare and other basic services across affected areas.
“This is a wake-up call. We need speed, scale and solidarity before this virus gets even further ahead of us,” Fletcher said.
He ended with a direct appeal for greater international action: “The world needs to wake up, and show up.”
