Ebola hasn’t gone away. In fact, the ongoing outbreak in Africa is among the most concerning epidemics the organization trying to tame it has ever seen.

“Other than Covid, which affected the whole world, this is the thing that has frightened me the most,” says Nicole Lurie, who has worked for Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations since 2017 and now serves as executive director for preparedness and response and the US director.

More than 7,000 people have contracted the Bundibugyo Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo since May, around half of whom have died, according to government data compiled by the World Health Organization.

“This is the most rapidly growing Ebola outbreak that we’ve seen. It’s probably on pace to be the worst the world has ever seen,” Lurie tells WIRED, “and it’s quite terrifying.”

While health officials were able to end the outbreak in Uganda through contact tracing, isolation, and clinical care, instability in the DRC means cases continue to climb. Millions of people have been displaced by ongoing violence, which has made contact tracing a “struggle,” according to Lurie. Matters have only been made harder by a distrust of outside humanitarian workers, which has made isolating and treating cases difficult. Locals have attacked Red Cross volunteers, destroyed medical equipment including ambulances, and delayed safe burial teams.

“I don’t think we’re going to be able to bring this to an end without a vaccine,” Lurie says.

Shortly after the first Bundibugyo cases were reported in May, nonprofit CEPI redirected $100 million of internal funding to develop a vaccine.

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