WHO Says Bundibugyo Ebola Outbreak Spreads in Democratic Republic of the Congo, Reaches Uganda

A rapidly spreading outbreak of a rare type of Ebola, the Bundibugyo virus, has triggered Ebola fears in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where anxious healthcare workers in Bunia said they are underprotected and undertrained as the response struggles in a remote, conflict-affected region.

“The number of suspected Ebola cases in Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda has risen to 600, with 139 suspected deaths, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said”

Al Jazeera

The World Health Organization said “patient zero” still has not been found, while Justin Ndasi, a resident of Bunia, said, “It’s truly sad and painful because we’ve already been through a security crisis, and now Ebola is here too,” as the first known death was announced last week.

Al Jazeera

In Bunia and surrounding areas, the outbreak has been linked to a worrying delay in detecting the virus, and the WHO said the outbreak would last at least two months, with investigations continuing into where and when it started.

So far, 51 cases have been confirmed in DR of Congo’s northern provinces of Ituri and North Kivu, along with two cases in Uganda, while there are 139 suspected deaths and almost 600 suspected cases, according to WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

The CDC advisory also described the outbreak as caused by the Bundibugyo virus (species Orthoebolavirus bundibugyoense), noting that as of May 16, 2026, 246 suspected cases and 80 deaths had been reported in Ituri Province.

WHO officials told reporters that the outbreak remains a public health emergency of international concern, with Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus confirming to reporters that the risk is high at national and regional levels but low globally.

Tedros said, “The WHO assess the risk of the epidemic as high at the national and regional levels and low at the global level,” while WHO emergencies chief Chikwe Ihekweazu said the “absolute priority now is to identify all the existing chains of transmission.”

Associated Press

At the same time, the BBC reported that the WHO told it the outbreak may be spreading faster than originally thought, and it explained that Ebola spreads through contact with infected bodily fluids such as blood or vomit.

The BBC also said the outbreak involves the rare Bundibugyo species, for which there is no vaccine, and it noted that initial blood tests were negative because they were designed to identify the more common species.

In Al Jazeera’s account, the WHO Emergency Committee met in Geneva on Wednesday, and it said previous figures reported by DRC officials were an estimated 131 deaths from 513 suspected cases, underscoring the shifting totals as the response escalates.

WHO said it is intensifying efforts to control and halt the outbreak in the north-eastern Ituri Province after the declaration of the outbreak on May 15, 2026, including delivering 11.5 tonnes of vital medical supplies and equipment within 72 hours from facilities in Kinshasa and from its Regional Emergency Hubs in Dakar and Nairobi.

“What is Ebola and why is stopping the latest outbreak so difficult”

BBC

The WHO deployment plan also included “More than 35 experts and first responders” from WHO and the Ministry of Health, with additional teams being deployed to reinforce disease surveillance, clinical care, and infection prevention and control.

Despite the ramp-up, the AP described how healthcare workers in Bunia and other areas faced a lack of isolation capacity, quoting Trish Newport of Doctors Without Borders: “Every health facility they called said, ‘We’re full of suspect cases. We don’t have any space.’”

The CDC advisory warned that the outbreak is occurring in areas affected by insecurity, population displacement, mining-related population movement, and frequent cross-border travel, all of which may increase the risk of further transmission.

In the background of the outbreak’s spread, the AP also reported that a militants attack linked to the Islamic State group killed at least 17 people on Tuesday night in Alima village in Ituri, further complicating efforts to handle the crisis as the WHO chief said the “scale of the epidemic is much larger.”