UPDATE Aug 2026 - Confirmed cases now sit just 35 kilometers from the South Sudan border, along high-risk travel corridors.
As the Ebola outbreak approaches the three-month mark since it was officially declared in the Democratic Republic of Congo, it has become the second largest on record, with more than 4,500 confirmed cases and over 2,100 deaths.
The death toll doubled in around three weeks, a stark measure of an outbreak moving far faster than DRC’s last major Ebola epidemic, which took just over a year from its declaration to reach 2,000 deaths.
In DRC, Prosper Global (formerly Mercy Corps) has supported communities since 2007 through water and sanitation, livelihoods, governance and emergency response, including support to the current Ebola response in Ituri. Since 2005, Prosper Global has supported communities in South Sudan through food security and livelihoods, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and resilience programming.
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May 19, 2026- The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.
“The speed at which this Ebola outbreak is spreading is deeply worrying.” Rose Tchwenko, Mercy Corps Country Director for DRC.
This latest outbreak is especially concerning because Ituri is a commercial and migration hub bordering Uganda and South Sudan, with heavy movement of people for trade and work.
Mercy Corps is present in affected areas and has put protective measures in place so teams can continue running safely as the response develops.
Drawing on our ongoing programming and experience supporting communities during past outbreaks, our emergency teams are ready to support government-led efforts by:
-Strengthening water, sanitation, and hygiene services in communities, schools, and health facilities
-Helping provide personal protective equipment
-Setting up handwashing stations and temperature screening in public areas and transport hubs, and
-Supporting community awareness and engagement to counter misinformation and rumors
Your gift today will go where it is needed most, with Mercy Corps working in DRC, Ukraine, and 30+ countries.
