West Africa
Westernmost region of Africa, from Senegal to Nigeria.
West Africa's 2014-2016 Ebola epidemic, the largest on record, killed more than 11,000 people; on 24 June 2026 Africa CDC's Jean Kaseya warned DR Congo's Bundibugyo toll could exceed it.
Last refreshed: 4 October 2026
Timeline for West Africa
Mentioned in: G20 talks take Ebola pledges to US$3bn
Pandemics and BiosecurityMentioned in: Uganda and DRC shut their shared border
Pandemics and BiosecurityMentioned in: CEPI puts a Bundibugyo vaccine in trials
Pandemics and BiosecurityMentioned in: Ebola reaches two more DRC provinces
Pandemics and BiosecurityMentioned in: Most Ebola deaths never reach a ward
Pandemics and BiosecurityBackground
West Africa is the westernmost region of Africa, stretching from Senegal to Nigeria. It suffered the 2014-2016 Ebola epidemic, the largest on record, which hit Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone hardest. WHO received reports of 28,652 cases and 11,325 deaths through March 2016, according to the US CDC. The Zaire species behind it is the one the Ervebo vaccine is licensed against.
In September 2014 the UN Security Council passed Resolution 2177, declaring Ebola a threat to international peace and security, and the next day the Secretary-General set up UNMEER, the first UN mission for a health emergency. Pledges rose sharply, but much of the money and many new treatment centres arrived after the region's case curve had peaked. In Nigeria, after one air traveller carried Ebola into Lagos in July 2014, the government redeployed polio contact tracers and was declared free on 20 October 2014.
West Africa hosted two Ebola vaccine trials in 2015. Guinea's "Ebola ça suffit" ring trial, begun in April 2015, showed that Ervebo's forerunner protected against the Zaire species, while Sierra Leone's STRIVE trial could not measure efficacy because cases fell too fast. On 24 June 2026 Africa CDC's Jean Kaseya warned that DR Congo's Bundibugyo toll could exceed West Africa's.
West Africa's epidemic set the death record
WHO declared DR Congo's Bundibugyo outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on 17 May 2026 without first seating an Emergency Committee; West Africa's emergency had been declared 4.5 months after its index case. US CDC modelling on 5 June put 65% of runs above 20,000 cases by 22 August at 20% isolation, near West Africa's scale.
On 24 June Africa CDC's Jean Kaseya warned the Congolese toll could exceed the 11,000-plus deaths of 2014-16, as confirmed cases reached 1,094. West Africa's curve bent in Sierra Leone and Guinea only after community-led SAFE burials took hold; in DR Congo isolation slipped to about 39% by 13 July 2026.
West Africa's 2014 funding came late
When G20 foreign ministers met in New York on 23 September 2026, Ebola pledges for DR Congo's response climbed to about $3bn. Money for Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone surged after the Security Council acted in September 2014, yet much of it landed after the region's peak.
Africa CDC committed on 24 September 2026 to follow every pledge to disbursement through its Financial Tracking Mechanism. The United States' $887m and the European Commission's $568m were the largest 2026 sums, and Jean Kaseya, Africa CDC's director, wants every dollar of them traceable. Many of West Africa's new treatment centres in 2014 also opened after the curve had peaked.
West Africa shaped today's screening rules
The United States banned entry from DR Congo, Uganda and South Sudan on 18 May 2026, the first major-power ban against live WHO advice since West Africa's 2014 crisis. Exit screening under the International Health Regulations was written to replace the travel bans that failed during that epidemic.
West Africa's 2014 record also covers returning health workers: the US government imposed quarantine orders on staff back from Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia, which drew legal challenges in New Jersey and Maine. In 2026 a Kenyan court suspended a planned 50-bed US quarantine site in Nairobi on 29 May.