Congo's Ministry of Health reported 37 new deaths in a single 24-hour window spanning Friday, July 18, into Saturday, July 19, 2026, one of the highest single-day death tallies recorded since the Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak was declared on May 15, according to NPR and Al Jazeera. Those 37 deaths brought the cumulative confirmed toll to 930, from 2,344 laboratory-confirmed cases as of data through July 18, 2026.
The spike in daily deaths arrives at a moment when three first-ever clinical trials targeting the Bundibugyo strain specifically have just begun enrolling patients. The convergence of record-level daily deaths and first-ever treatment trials creates the most consequential week yet in a crisis that the World Health Organization has characterized as the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak in recorded history.
