The World Health Organisation declared the Ebola outbreak in Congo and Uganda a public health emergency of international concern on 17 May 2026, as the rare Bundibugyo strain spreads across two countries with no approved vaccine or treatment in existence.
The WHO invoked its highest-level international alert after at least 80 suspected deaths, eight laboratory-confirmed infections and 246 suspected cases were recorded across the outbreak zone, as reported by Bloomberg.
The bulk of cases are concentrated in the DRC’s Ituri province, a remote, forested region in the country’s northeast. A separate confirmed case has also been recorded in Goma, the DRC’s eastern gateway city, raising concerns about urban transmission.
What makes this Ebola outbreak in Congo and Uganda different
This is only the third recorded outbreak involving the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola. Unlike the far more common Zaire strain, which has a licensed vaccine, the Bundibugyo variant has no approved vaccine and no antibody treatment available.
Health workers in Ituri province are therefore managing the outbreak without the clinical tools that proved decisive in bringing previous crises under control.
Congo has experienced more Ebola outbreaks than any other country, with more than 20 separate outbreaks recorded in the DRC and Uganda over the past four decades.
The eastern provinces have been particularly hard hit, due to ongoing armed conflict, limited health infrastructure and high population movement. The Ituri province, where the current outbreak is centred, has a history of instability that significantly slows detection and response.
How the Ebola outbreak crossed from the DRC into Uganda
The international spread was confirmed when two cases linked to travel from the DRC emerged in Uganda’s capital, Kampala, on consecutive days. One of the two patients died.
Both cases had no apparent connection to each other beyond their shared origin in the DRC, complicating contact tracing and indicating that community-level transmission was already difficult to track before the WHO declaration was made.
The development persuaded the WHO emergency committee that the outbreak could not be contained through national-level action in the DRC alone.
The committee’s decision to invoke a public health emergency of international concern obligates member states to strengthen surveillance at borders and ports of entry.
Global response to the Ebola emergency
The United States Centres for Disease Control and Prevention activated its emergency response centre following the WHO declaration and announced plans to deploy additional personnel to its existing offices in the DRC and Uganda.
CDC officials confirmed on 18 May 2026 that some American nationals may have been exposed during the current outbreak cycle, though no specific numbers were disclosed.
The WHO is expected to convene a follow-up emergency committee within 90 days to reassess whether the public health emergency of international concern designation should be extended or lifted, depending on whether containment measures in Ituri province succeed in slowing transmission before the Bundibugyo strain reaches further urban centres.
