NEW YORK (AP) — The Ebola outbreak in Congo passed a grim milestone this week — 10,000 confirmed cases — and spurred questions about whether health authorities are losing their ability to contain it.
Nearly half the infected people in this outbreak have died, and some experts say there are reasons to worry this could grow into the worst Ebola outbreak in history. Others don't think it will reach that level. Researchers are currently working on updated projections.
Current circumstances suggest it's unlikely to spark significant problems in most other countries, some researchers said. But about 30 confirmed cases have already popped up in other nations. And the risk that more will appear outside Congo will grow if the outbreak isn't tamed, said Justin Lessler, a University of North Carolina researcher who studies the dynamics of infectious disease outbreaks.
Experts also are hopeful that a vaccine will become available next year that could help control it.
At a virtual summit of African health ministers on Wednesday, Africa CDC Director-General Dr. Jean Kaseya said the continent is “not winning” the fight against Ebola and needs to do more after it spread to multiple African countries. “Together, we agreed to prepare every country, coordinate across our borders and keep those borders open while watching them closely,” Kaseya wrote on X.
About 400 to 500 new confirmed cases have been reported in Congo each week, and that number seems to be holding steady. It's good news that “cases are not rising exponentially,” at least for the moment, said Dr. Boghuma Titanji, an Emory University infectious disease specialist.
“But they’re not coming down, either," she said. "It’s at a plateau. And the plateau is at a very, very high set point."
A major challenge in Congo is limited contact tracing and collaboration with affected communities; health workers sometimes spend more time trying to convince locals to work with them than giving care.
Fewer than a quarter of new cases are coming from people known to have been in contact with an infected person, showing there are ongoing chains of transmission that health authorities are not aware of.
As cases mount, the likelihood grows that more infected people travel to other countries, Titanji and other experts said. France, Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda also have reported cases tied to the Congo outbreak.
Travel restrictions, like those imposed by the U.S., can make it harder for the virus to leave Africa. And in many places where a traveler's infection may surface, health officials should be able to quickly isolate an infected person and find any contacts, experts say.
“The direct risk it poses to the U.S. at this point, I’d say, is very close to zero,” Lessler said.
But Ebola could flare in poor and conflict-stricken places with weakened health systems — like South Sudan, for example, Lessler said.
Viruses that cause Ebola disease spread through contact with bodily fluids such as vomit, blood and semen.
Dozens of Ebola outbreaks have been reported since the disease was first discovered in 1976. The largest and deadliest occurred in West Africa in 2014 to 2016, with 28,000 infections and more than 11,000 deaths.
The current outbreak already ranks second, and has had at least three times the number of cases and deaths in the time since it was declared compared with the West Africa outbreak. Health officials declared the outbreak in May, but medical evidence suggests infections were occurring months earlier.
One reason is that past outbreaks were almost all caused by the Ebola virus. Initial testing was geared toward that virus — not the related, but different, Bundibugyo virus that was actually causing illnesses.
A series of other challenges have hurt the response, including armed conflict in some outbreak areas, gaps in the health system, mistrust and misinformation, and global aid cuts, experts say.
Conditions vary in Congo, which explains why cases can be stable or falling in some places but can be trending up in others, researchers and response workers say.
“Testing, care and contact tracing only work if we work with communities, going door to door, village by village to break the chain of transmission and stop this deadly escalation,” said Katie Thomas-Canfield, the International Rescue Committee’s Ebola response director, in a statement.
Dr. Wendy Armstrong, president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, said she thinks the situation is going to get worse.
“This is very far from being controlled,” she said.
Experts expect the outbreak will continue through the end of the year, but Titanji is hopeful about 2027. That's because vaccines are being tested against the Bundibugyo virus, and she is optimistic an effective shot will become available in the next 12 months.
She noted no vaccines were available early in the 2014-2016 West Africa outbreak.
Forecasting the outbreak is difficult, of course, but scientists have been trying.
In May, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published a range of scenarios generated by computer models. At the time, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was reporting 400 confirmed cases. The U.S. CDC models estimated the growth in cases over three months could run from 10,000 to more than 20,000.
The CDC is updating its modeling work. But the agency declined to let The Associated Press interview staff scientists about how the outbreak is trending.
Alessandro Vespignani, a Northeastern University disease modeler, has been monitoring trends with U.S. and international health officials.
There's not been the kind of “decay in the number of cases weekly that we need to see the light at the end of the tunnel,” he said.
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A healthcare worker walks inside a treatment center for Ebola patients in Beni, North Kivu province, eastern Congo, Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Sebastien Kitsa Musayi)
Alaska's Republican governor has ordered an investigation in response to President Donald Trump 's demand for a criminal probe of whether Democratic Senate nominee Mary Peltola's campaign was involved in recruiting a spoiler candidate with the same name as Republican incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan.
Political parties often support extra candidates on the ballot to try to pull votes from their rivals. In Ohio’s Senate race, Republicans have been tied to an effort to boost a socialist to votes from Sherrod Brown, the Democratic candidate challenging Sen. Jon Husted.
A federal judge rejected a Trump administration request to stop California from processing the ballots of up to 20,000 people over allegations that they are likely noncitizens, warning it would “wreak havoc” on the midterm elections. The ruling comes as more than 3.7 million people have already voted in the state.
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When Democratic candidate David Crowley joined thousands of fans watching the Brewers win the World Series Wednesday night, the victory was particularly sweet: As the Milwaukee County executive, Crowley helped negotiate a deal in 2023 to have state, county and city money help pay for repairs at the Brewers’ stadium to keep them in Milwaukee through at least 2050.
“It’s not just brought together those who live in this community, but everybody across the state of Wisconsin,” Crowley told WISN-TV.
Crowley faces Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, who celebrated the win by invoking the memory of Bob Uecker, the Brewers’ play-by-play announcer for 54 years.
“You know Ueck is smiling down on us tonight,” Tiffany posted on social media.
A parade celebrating the Brewers’ first World Series championship is set for Friday in Milwaukee, about five miles from where Crowley grew up.
While controversial, the situation in Alaska is not that unusual. Political parties often support extra candidates on the ballot to try to pull votes from their rivals. If state courts allow it, legal experts say, the federal government has no role challenging the results.
In Ohio’s Senate race, Republicans have been tied to an effort to boost a socialist on the ballot who would pull votes from Sherrod Brown, the Democratic candidate challenging Sen. Jon Husted.
And social media videos believed to be produced with artificial intelligence and linked to Russia are misusing real people’s names and photographs to spread disinformation about Brown and Texas Democrat James Talarico in the final stretch of midterm voting.
That’s what House Speaker Mike Johnson said Thursday morning on Fox News Channel when asked about state and federal probes over whether Peltola’s campaign recruited a candidate with the same name as the GOP incumbent.
“This is an evil tactic,” the Louisiana Republican said. “They’re trying to confuse people, and we’re going to expose that.”
“That’s not Texas,” GOP Senate nominee Ken Paxton said Thursday as he characterized the promises of Democratic opponent James Talarico.
Appearing on Fox News Channel from a diner in his home state, the Texas attorney general called Talarico “a socialist who wants government control.”
Paxton urged party unity after a “tough primary” for Texas Republicans, calling himself “a constitutional conservative that will fight for free market, will fight for opportunity for Texans.”
Trump has stumped in Texas three times this month, calling Paxton “a good man” as he competes in the tight race that’s become one of the most expensive in the country.
The Labor Department report Thursday suggests layoffs remain low and most Americans enjoy job security.
Applications for jobless benefits are a proxy for layoffs, and economists watch them closely because they can provide signs of where the job market is headed. So far this year, claims have remained at historically low levels, never topping 230,000 in a single week.
But hiring has been lackluster: So far this year, employers — companies, government agencies and nonprofits — have been adding an average of 68,000 jobs a month, including a disappointing 29,000 last month. It’s better than in 2025 when monthly job creation averaged 9,700 as high interest rates and Trump’s unpredictable trade policies discouraged hiring.
Consumer spending has remained resilient and a surge in investment in artificial intelligence has lifted the GDP.
An inflation gauge closely monitored by the Federal Reserve accelerated last month, showing that prices remain elevated as Americans go to vote with affordability concerns a central issue.
Consumer prices rose 3.6% in September compared with a year earlier, the Commerce Department said Thursday, up from 3.4% in August. On a monthly basis, prices climbed 0.5%, up from 0.3% in August and the highest figure since May.
Annual inflation has worsened since the Iran war spiked oil and gas prices. U.S. oil prices still top $100 a barrel, up from less than $70 before the war. Polls show the inflation has soured most voters on the president’s handling of the economy. Trump’s campaign promise was gas below $2 a gallon. It currently averages about $4.25.
Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s directive, posted early Thursday on social media, comes a day after Trump called for the criminal prosecution of Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola.
It all comes following revelations that Peltola’s campaign appeared to be involved in recruiting a candidate with the same name as Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan.
During a campaign stop on Wednesday, Peltola suggested the Times’ report was a “distraction” from issues such as Sen. Sullivan’s support of the war in Iran.
New Hampshire Republican John E. Sununu says his former Senate colleague Susan Collins has been a “great model” for standing up to Trump.
Sununu, who is trying to regain the seat he lost in 2008, was asked during a debate Wednesday night to name a Republican member of Congress who has done what he promises to do: Oppose Trump on a key issue and remain effective.
“Susan Collins is a great example, a great model,” said Sununu, who is facing Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas in the race for an open seat. “She stands up for what she believes in, I’ll stand up for what I believe in.”
Collins, who is being challenged by Democrat Troy Jackson, has broken with Trump over the years but Democrats argue she is still too close to him.
Pappas repeatedly linked Sununu to Trump during the debate, including after Sununu criticized him for campaigning with former Vice President Kamala Harris last weekend.
A federal judge rejected on Wednesday a Trump administration request to stop California from processing the ballots of up to 20,000 people over allegations they are likely noncitizens, warning it would “wreak havoc” on the midterm elections.
The ruling by U.S. District Judge David O. Carter comes as more than 3.7 million people have already voted in the state.
“Eroded trust in our democracy is irreparable. Once a vote is segregated, lasting harm has occurred,” Carter wrote. “If the Executive can discount votes and threaten an ongoing election due to unproven allegations, then our democracy is in danger. This Court declines to be a party to such process.”
Prosecutors for the Justice Department said they would immediately appeal the decision.
The decision is the latest legal setback for Trump in his efforts to expand federal control over state-run elections ahead of voting that will decide control of Congress for the rest of his term.
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Trump called for the criminal prosecution of the Democratic candidate running for Senate in Alaska on Wednesday after revelations that her campaign appeared to be involved in recruiting a candidate with the same name as Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan.
The race is among a handful of Senate contests this year expected to determine control of the chamber. Trump had previously directed his Department of Justice to sue to block certification of the Senate race should Democrat Mary Peltola defeat Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan.
“I think they should be prosecuted,” the Republican president said about Peltola and the other Sullivan, responding to questions about a report in The New York Times.
The newspaper obtained text messages between members of Peltola’s campaign discussing recruiting people with the same name as the two-term Republican before landing on a retired schoolteacher named Dan J. Sullivan, now one of four candidates on the ranked vote ballot in the general election.
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Georgia Democrats rallied with former President Barack Obama Wednesday night, at the same time President Donald Trump was in Ohio attempting to energize his base, as both parties began crystallizing their closing messages ahead of next week’s midterm elections.
Trump has been on a weekslong sprint around the country, doing 20-plus rallies this month alone while packing upcoming days with more travel. But as Americans confront record fuel prices, rising costs and an unpopular war in Iran, the president has been keeping his focus on states that he won handily two years ago.
“If you can get out to vote,” Trump told a raucous crowd in Chillicothe, south of Columbus, Ohio’s capital, “we’re going to have a tremendous victory.”
The last Democratic president to serve two terms, Obama is increasingly campaigning for his party and gleefully acting as a foil to Trump — including criticizing the Republican for spending too much time leading White House renovations and for becoming wealthier while in office.
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Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate Adam Hamilton hugs a supporter of his campaign for the U.S. Senate against Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., after speaking at Washburn University, Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026, in Topeka, Kan. (AP Photo/John Hanna)
FILE - Mary Peltola, a Democrat running for the U.S. Senate seat in Alaska, addresses supporters at an election watch party on Aug. 18, 2026, in Anchorage, Alaska. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen, File)
FILE - This combination photo shows Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, left, in Palmer, Alaska, Aug. 17, 2026, and a candidate in Alaska's Senate race, Dan Sullivan, right, in Petersburg, Alaska, July 3, 2026. (AP Photos/Mark Thiessen/Becky Bohrer, File)
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Keisha Lance Bottoms, center, joined by former President Barack Obama and Democratic candidate Sen. Jon Ossoff, walk off stage after a rally ahead of the Georgia Primary Election on Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026, Morrow, Ga. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at the Shoemaker Center at Ohio University Chillicothe in Chillicothe, Ohio, Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
