Health workers and residents in the Democratic Republic of Congo have celebrated the discharge of the last remaining patients from an Ebola treatment centre in Mongbwalu, in the country’s eastern Ituri province — the first time the facility has held no confirmed cases since the outbreak was declared in May.
Footage published by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), which runs the centre, showed staff and community members singing and dancing as the final patients left, recovered. Mongbwalu sits in the historical epicentre of the outbreak, and the empty ward marks a rare milestone in a response that has been running for more than five months.
The celebrations came in the same week that Congo’s confirmed case count passed 10,000. Health ministry data released on 27 October put the total at 10,060 confirmed cases and 4,887 deaths as of 25 October — making this both the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak on record and the deadliest in Congo’s history, with nearly half of those infected dying. At least 2,600 patients have recovered.
The outbreak, declared on 15 May, is caused by the rare Bundibugyo strain of the virus, for which there is no approved vaccine or specific treatment. The World Health Organization announced on 23 October that the first clinical trial of a candidate vaccine had begun in Congo.
MSF and Congolese officials were quick to stress that an empty ward in Mongbwalu does not mean the outbreak is over. The virus has spread from three health zones in May to 66 zones across eight of Congo’s 26 provinces, and Ituri still accounts for more than 70 per cent of confirmed cases. Responders say around 80 per cent of new cases are arising outside the lists of known contacts, and that at least half of those who have died were never admitted to a treatment centre.
“The outbreak is far from over, but every life saved is worth celebrating,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said of the discharge video.
Sources: Associated Press, “Congo’s Ebola outbreak tops 10,000 cases” (https://gorgenewscenter.com/2026/10/27/congos-ebola-outbreak-tops-10000-cases-as-authorities-race-to-slow-the-spread-in-african-countries/); Médecins Sans Frontières footage and statements, reported by Africanews and The Eastleigh Voice (https://eastleighvoice.co.ke/democratic-republic-of-congo/417586/drc-medics-celebrate-as-final-ebola-patient-leaves-mongbwalu-treatment-centre); Congolese Ministry of Health data.
