The first reported cases of Ebola infection date back to 1976. At that time, two outbreaks were identified—in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) and in Sudan. The viruses belonged to two different species. To this day, however, we do not know with absolute certainty witch animal first transmitted the virus to humans. Fruit bats are suspected to be its natural reservoir.

Since then, Ebola has regularly resurfaced, primarily in Central and East Africa. The breakthrough came with the 2014–2016 epidemic, which began in Guinea and quickly spread to Liberia and Sierra Leone. It was the largest Ebola epidemic in history: more than 28,600 infected and 11,325 deaths. For the first time, the world saw on such a large scale that the virus does not respect national borders.

 

New Ebola outbreaks are spreading across more African countries

In 2026, the problem returned in a different form. The current outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, caused by the Bundibugyo virus, was officially declared on May 15. According to WHO data from October 5, the DRC had reported 8,665 confirmed cases and 4,178 deaths. It has already become the deadliest outbreak of its kind in the country’s history.

People travel for work, trade, medical treatment, and family reasons, and this is creating opportunities for the virus to spread to other African countries.

The eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo are also an area of conflict, migration, displacement, and mining activity.

This is how Ebola spread to Kenya again in early October. A Kenyan citizen who had previously been living in the Democratic Republic of the Congo traveled by road through Uganda and then flew to Nairobi. He arrived in Kenya on October 3 and died on October 5. On October 6, authorities confirmed that he had been infected with the Bundibugyo virus. Kenya began tracing everyone who may have come into contact with the virus.


Ebola’s death rate remains high

Could Ebola trigger a pandemic on the scale of COVID-19? The virus continues to mutate, but there is currently no basis for considering such a possibility likely. Ebola is not easily transmitted through the respiratory tract. Infection occurs primarily through direct contact with the blood or other bodily fluids of an infected or who has died from the disease. According to the latest medical data, with Ebola, a person infected with Ebola is not contagious before symptoms appear. This is a fundamental difference compared to COVID-19.

However, the case fatality rate for Ebola remains a highly lethal disease. The WHO reports that case fatality rates in previous outbreaks have ranged from 25 to 90 percent, averaging around 50 percent.

In the current outbreak in the Congo, it was 48 percent, according to data from October 5. There is currently no approved vaccine or specific treatment for the Bundibugyo virus.

 

Will African businesses also feel the impact of Ebola?

Although new Ebola outbreaks are first and foremost a terrible human tragedy, the spread of the disease can also have significant economic consequences. At the micro level, the first sectors to feel the impact may be transportation, trade, restaurants, hotels, mines, and small businesses that depend on the movement of workers and customers. A company does not need to have an infected employee to suffer the consequences of an outbreak. It may be enough for employees to stop traveling, a supplier to be unable to cross a border, or customers to begin avoiding a particular region.

At the macro level, an epidemic increases government spending on healthcare, reduces productivity, and raises the cost of doing business. During the 2014–2016 epidemic, the World Bank estimated that, under a high-transmission, Ebola could have cost West African economies a total of $32.6 billion over two years.

The longer an outbreak remains uncontrolled, the greater the potential risks to businesses and national economies, and the losses will soon be felt in small businesses as well as entire national economies.