DRC Ebola Outbreak Becomes Second Deadliest in History as Race for Vaccines Intensifies

The Democratic Republic of Congo is grappling with an Ebola epidemic that the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the second most severe in history, trailing only the 2014-2016 West Africa outbreak. This latest resurgence, declared on May 15, is progressing at an alarming rate. Just three months after the WHO declared a global health emergency, the official toll has already surpassed 2,128 deaths among 4,566 confirmed cases. The virus is gaining ground in the eastern regions of the DRC, prompting a critical race against time for global health actors to deploy and test new vaccines. Aurélia Nguyen, a pandemic specialist, is among those working on the front lines of this urgent response. The speed at which this 17th outbreak in the DRC is unfolding has raised significant concerns among health authorities worldwide, highlighting the persistent threat of the deadly virus.

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the resurgence of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo now constitutes the second most serious epidemic in history, behind that of 2014-2016 in West Africa (28,000 infected, 11,000 deaths).