Almost $3 Billion Pledged to Fight Ebola as Outbreak Reaches Two More Health Zones

Almost $3 billion has been promised to support the Ebola response in the Democratic Republic of Congo, while the virus has spread into two more areas of the country.

Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), the continents top health agency, said in a press release issued from New York and Addis Ababa on 24 September 2026 that about $2.9 billion had been committed, in cash and in kind.

Bloomberg reported the same day that the total had reached nearly $3 billion, citing Africa CDC.

The commitments were announced in connection with a meeting in New York on 23 September, held alongside the United Nations General Assembly.

The United States called the meeting, and it brought together the governments of Congo and Uganda, members of the G20 group of countries and their partners, and international organisations.

Who is putting in the money

Africa CDC's release names the United States as the biggest contributor, at $886 million. Reuters reported on 23 September that senior State Department officials had pledged a further $267 million on the sidelines of the General Assembly, bringing the US commitment to that figure.

The European Union and European Commission follow with $568 million, then the World Bank with $433 million, and African countries together are listed at $110 million.

According to the Africa CDC release, Allison Hooker, the US Under Secretary of State, told the New York meeting on 23 September that resources must be turned quickly into treatment, disease tracking, contact tracing, protective equipment and other lifesaving work.

Contact tracing means finding people who may have been exposed to a patient and following them for signs of illness.

A tracking system for the cash

Dr Jean Kaseya, Director-General of Africa CDC, said in the 24 September release that "pledges alone will not stop Ebola."

He said every dollar must be traced from commitment to payment to the services delivered to affected communities.

The release said the meeting's success will be measured by how quickly resources are disbursed, where they are deployed and what they deliver.

It said Africa CDC will strengthen its Financial Tracking Mechanism, working with the Congolese government and WHO, to follow the commitments through to results.

Two more districts join the list

The World Health Organization (WHO) said in its Disease Outbreak News report of 25 September that two more health zones have been affected since its last update on 11 September.

A health zone is a local health district, the area one team of health workers looks after.

is Bulu, in Sud Ubangi province in the north-west, the first case in a province that had not reported the disease before.

The other is Dungu, in Haut-Uélé province on the border with South Sudan.

That brings the outbreak to 63 health zones across seven provinces.

When WHO first reported the outbreak in a Geneva statement on 16 May, it counted eight confirmed cases in at least three zones and said the real number was probably much larger.

WHO said the latest spread increases the risk of the virus crossing into other countries.

Almost 8,000 confirmed cases, nearly 3,800 deaths

WHO reported that Congo had 7,890 confirmed cases and 3,799 deaths as of 23 September, about 48 deaths for every 100 confirmed cases.

The report calls it the largest Ebola outbreak ever recorded in Congo, and Reuters reported on 23 September that it is already the second most lethal on record, behind West Africa's epidemic of 2014 to 2016.

It is caused by Bundibugyo virus, one type of Ebola virus, and WHO says no approved vaccines or specific treatments exist for it.

Ituri cools, North Kivu crests

The outbreak was first detected in Ituri, a province in eastern Congo, which remains the worst hit with 6,032 cases, 868 of them in the last three weeks, WHO reported.

Cases there have been declining gradually since a peak in mid-August, although transmission remains at elevated levels.

North Kivu, a province to the south of Ituri, has 1,480 cases, 567 of them in the last three weeks, more than a third of its total by WHO's figures.

WHO said its cases reached their highest level in mid-September and have fallen in recent days.

North Kivu has the highest death rate of any province, at 59.7%, and WHO said it is investigating the factors behind it.

Deaths outside the clinic

WHO said in the 25 September report that a high rate of deaths is occurring in communities, which it linked to delays in detecting cases and in reaching care.

Africa CDC's Emergency Consultative Group, an independent panel of senior African scientists chaired by Prof Salim Abdool Karim, said in a statement from Addis Ababa on 17 September that roughly 60 percent of reported deaths occur in communities.

The panel also found that lists of people who may have been exposed to patients are incomplete.

Optimism, with limits

The same panel said the evidence supports cautious optimism, and that transmission is not yet consistently controlled across all affected areas.

Reuters reported on 23 September that Prime Minister Judith Suminwa Tuluka told the UN General Assembly in New York that the response has recently begun producing tangible results, after Congo contained 16 earlier outbreaks.

She described the outbreak as a major test for the country.

Africa CDC said in its 24 September release that the commitments must now be converted rapidly into disbursements, implementation and measurable results in affected communities.