Congo Ebola Cases Pass 11,000 With 5,387 Dead as Travel Curbs Spread

Ebola has now infected 11,042 people in Congo and killed 5,387, the government reported on 11 November, according to AP. The virus has been detected in 8 of Congo’s 26 provinces, CIDRAP reports. This is the largest outbreak the country has recorded, caused by the Bundibugyo strain, for which no vaccine or treatment is approved. The same day, Kenya discharged its last patient, a narrow piece of good news in a continuing emergency.

The count keeps rising

The US CDC counted 10,990 confirmed cases and 5,354 deaths as of 8 November, and 10,498 cases and 5,107 deaths on 31 October. In 11 days, that is roughly 540 more confirmed cases and 280 more deaths. The agencies count differently, and Congo’s official figures leave out probable and suspected cases, so the real toll could be higher than the confirmed one.

The CDC rates Ituri and Nord-Kivu provinces at its highest travel notice, level 4. Haut-Uele and Tshopo are at level 3. Our earlier reports on the 5,000-death mark and the contact-tracing gap describe where transmission is concentrated.

Chart: GoodBad. Data from CDC, WHO and the Congolese government via AP, 31 October to 11 November 2026.

Kenya: nine cases, two deaths

Kenya’s cluster began with a man who travelled from Congo through Uganda in early October and died. He infected four family members and four health workers. His mother also died, and seven of the nine confirmed patients recovered. Kenya identified 135 contacts, and the health ministry says there was no community transmission. A 42-day countdown to an Ebola-free declaration, covering two incubation cycles, has started.

Uganda reported 20 cases earlier this summer and is now Ebola-free. Nigeria has reported one case. Kenya is the third African country outside Congo to see the Bundibugyo strain, so the virus has already crossed three borders in this outbreak.

Who pays for the curbs

The restrictions are landing on workers. Saudi Arabia suspended visas on 30 October, which affects hundreds of Kenyan domestic and hotel workers, and Kenya’s health ministry has asked Riyadh to reconsider. Kenya sends passengers from ten affected or neighbouring countries through a single airport gate and puts arrivals from Congo in 21 days of quarantine.

US rules are stricter. Anyone who has been in Congo within 21 days cannot board a commercial flight to the United States. From 3 November, passengers on international flights must also sign a statement that they have not been there. Travel bans also sit awkwardly with WHO advice. WHO has said contact tracing, not closed borders, is the response it wants, as we reported in its earlier update.

What would change the outcome is the same as in our last report: faster detection, tracing of contacts above the 95 percent daily threshold, and a vaccine. Africa CDC’s Jean Kaseya called Kenya’s response an “encouraging moment” and said surveillance must continue. No source we read says when the Congo count will stop rising.