An outbreak of Ebola disease caused by Bundibugyo virus was declared in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on 15 May 2026 and determined a public health emergency of international concern by WHO two days later. DRC authorities had counted 10,274 confirmed cases and 4,992 deaths in data up to 28 October, according to ECDC and CDC. Uganda's outbreak ended in the summer, and imported cases were confirmed in France, Kenya and Nigeria.
As of 1 November 2026 the epidemic is ongoing in eight DRC provinces, where DRC authorities counted 10,274 confirmed cases and 4,992 deaths in data up to 28 October (ECDC and CDC) and government data released on 30 October put deaths above 5,000 (Reuters). Kenya's Ministry of Health counted nine cases and two deaths with no new case since 20 October, according to ECDC on 26 October and The Star on 30 October, and no licensed vaccine or treatment for Bundibugyo virus exists.
WHO said the presumed index case developed symptoms on 25 April, about four weeks before laboratory confirmation. WHO said the gap suggests low clinical suspicion among health providers, with other circulating illnesses masking the early signal.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo declared an outbreak of Ebola disease caused by Bundibugyo virus after eight samples tested positive, according to WHO. WHO said the event is thought to have started in the Mongbwalu health zone, a mining area in Ituri, and that four health workers had died at Mongbwalu General Referral Hospital.
Uganda confirmed its outbreak on the same day after a case imported from the DRC, according to WHO. The patient had been admitted to a private hospital on 11 May and died on 14 May. A second imported case was confirmed in Kampala on 16 May.
WHO said a suspected case reported in Kinshasa on 16 May tested negative on confirmatory testing and was not counted. Later WHO and ECDC updates did not list Kinshasa among affected provinces.
The WHO Director-General determined that the epidemic in the DRC and Uganda is a public health emergency of international concern but not a pandemic emergency. WHO cited 8 confirmed cases, 246 suspected cases and 80 suspected deaths in Ituri as of 16 May, and advised that no country should close its borders or restrict travel and trade.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued an order suspending entry of foreign nationals who had been in the DRC, Uganda or South Sudan in the previous 21 days. The order was amended on 22 May and continued by new orders, most recently on 11 October.
A US citizen health worker who tested positive in the DRC on 18 May was transferred to Germany with six high-risk contacts, according to ECDC. ECDC said the patient was discharged from a Berlin hospital on 6 June, and WHO said no secondary cases were reported.
Africa CDC declared the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of Continental Security on the advice of its Emergency Consultative Group. It cited about 395 suspected cases and 106 deaths in the DRC and two cases and one death in Uganda as of 18 May.
WHO reported 85 confirmed cases and 10 deaths as of 21 May, including 83 confirmed cases and 9 deaths in the DRC and 2 cases and 1 death in Uganda (Uganda data as of 20 May). It also counted 746 suspected cases and 176 deaths among suspected cases in the DRC, across 15 health zones in Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu.
After the first meeting of the International Health Regulations Emergency Committee, WHO issued temporary recommendations to countries. WHO noted that, unlike Ebola virus disease, there is no licensed vaccine or specific treatment against Bundibugyo virus.
After a joint mission to Bunia led by Health Minister Samuel Roger Kamba and a visit by WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the DRC government and WHO committed to more surveillance, testing and care, rapid trials of vaccines and treatments, and keeping borders open.
Africa CDC and WHO launched a joint continental preparedness and response plan for June to November 2026 that they said required 518 million US dollars.
A high-level meeting convened by Burundian President Evariste Ndayishimiye as African Union chairperson mobilised 910 million US dollars in pledges, including 80 million from African member states, according to APA News and The Herald.
WHO said Uganda's last confirmed case was identified on 21 June. Uganda reported 20 confirmed cases in Kampala, 15 imported and 5 secondary, as of 14 July.
France reported its first case, a doctor returning from a humanitarian mission in an affected area of the DRC, according to ECDC and WHO. WHO said the patient was discharged on 4 July and five flight contacts completed follow-up without symptoms.
The WHO-sponsored PARTNERS trial began enrolling patients in the DRC to test the monoclonal antibody MBP134 and remdesivir, alone and combined. It is coordinated by the DRC's INRB, Belgium's Institute of Tropical Medicine and the University of Oxford, with Africa CDC support.
A US humanitarian worker who tested positive on 10 July was evacuated to Germany, according to ECDC. WHO said the patient was in stable condition in Frankfurt.
WHO reported 2,124 confirmed cases and 828 deaths in the DRC as of 15 July, in 46 health zones across Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu, Haut-Uele and Tshopo. Ituri accounted for almost 90 percent of cases.
Health Minister Chris Baryomunsi announced the end of Uganda's outbreak after a 42-day monitoring period, citing 20 confirmed cases, 18 discharged and 2 deaths, Al Jazeera and Reuters reported. The same report cited the Congolese health ministry as counting at least 3,262 infections and 1,437 deaths.
The IHR Emergency Committee held its second meeting on 18 August. In updated recommendations published on 24 August, WHO advised against suspending flights or denying entry to travellers from affected states and rated the risk very high in the DRC and high in neighbouring countries.
The International Coordinating Group on Vaccine Provision released 70,000 doses of Ervebo, a vaccine licensed for the Zaire strain, with 20,000 for a trial and 50,000 for frontline and health workers, WHO and Africa CDC said. WHO said it is not known whether Ervebo protects against Bundibugyo virus in humans.
WHO and Africa CDC welcomed the end of the Uganda outbreak after 42 days, counting 20 confirmed cases, 2 deaths and 18 recoveries. They described 28 July as the date Uganda announced the interruption of local transmission.
The DRC began vaccinating frontline workers with Ervebo in Kisangani, mainly for Tshopo, Bas-Uele and Haut-Uele provinces, according to ECDC.
A health worker who had tested positive in the DRC was evacuated on 29 September, admitted to Leiden University Medical Center on 1 October and discharged on 9 October, according to ECDC.
Kenya reported an imported case in a Kenyan citizen who had lived in the DRC, travelled by road to Kampala and flew to Nairobi on 3 October, according to WHO. The patient died on the night of 5 October. WHO said Kenya had screened more than 652,000 travellers by then.
WHO reported 8,728 confirmed cases and 4,205 confirmed deaths in the DRC as of 6 October, in 64 health zones across seven provinces, with a crude case fatality rate of 48.2 percent.
Tedros said therapeutic trials had enrolled more than 600 people and a vaccine trial would start later in October. He said most deaths still occur in the community and urged against blanket travel or trade restrictions.
Kenya's Ministry of Health reported four new cases on 17 October, three of them health workers who treated the first patient and one a relative, bringing its total to seven, according to AFP, AP and Reuters as published by Al Jazeera. Director General for Health Patrick Amoth told Citizen TV on 18 October that an eighth case, a patient attendant, had tested positive.
The DRC government announced that the virus had reached North Ubangi, an eighth province, and North Kivu introduced a one-week ban on entry from Ituri, according to state news agency ACP as cited by Al Jazeera.
Nigeria's Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare reported a confirmed case in Abuja in a woman who had travelled from Uganda, fell ill on 7 October and sought care on 11 October. WHO said 44 contacts were being monitored.
WHO reported 9,704 confirmed cases and 4,687 deaths in the DRC as of 20 October. It said Kenya had nine cases including one death as of 20 October, all in one cluster of the first case, four family members and four health and care workers, and had screened 709,093 travellers by 22 October.
The Phase 2/3 TUMAINI vaccine trial started in Bunia on 23 October, according to WHO and ECDC. AFP, as published by Al Jazeera, said it would test Ervebo for cross-protection using ring vaccination of high-risk contacts, with candidates from the University of Oxford and Moderna expected to join.
Kenya's Director General for Health Patrick Amoth announced on 23 October that the third confirmed case, a close family member of the first patient, had died, according to Kenyans.co.ke and Citizen Digital. ECDC said Kenya had nine cases and two deaths as of 26 October, with no new case since 20 October.
Uganda announced new measures at points of entry and movement restrictions on the Uganda and DRC border, according to ECDC. It said 60 contacts in Uganda linked to the Kenyan case had completed follow-up.
The confirmed case from Nigeria was medically evacuated to Geneva University Hospital and a close contact was isolated in Zurich, according to ECDC. ECDC said it deployed three experts to Nigeria.
DRC authorities counted 10,274 confirmed cases and 4,992 deaths across eight provinces in data up to 28 October, according to ECDC and CDC. CDC said the DRC health ministry does not include probable cases and that suspected cases have been temporarily excluded, and ECDC said on 27 October the outbreak is likely larger than reported.
The DRC death toll surpassed 5,000 according to government data released on 30 October, Reuters reported. The figure was not yet reflected in ECDC or CDC counts.
Saudi Arabia suspended travel by its citizens to Kenya, paused visas for travellers from Kenya and barred entry to travellers who had been in Kenya or another affected country in the previous 21 days, Reuters reported citing the Saudi Press Agency.
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Citizen Digital · citizen.digital Al Jazeera and Reuters · aljazeera.com Citizen Digital · citizen.digitalLast updated 1 November 2026. Spotted an error? See corrections. Every event links to the record it comes from. Allegations are attributed to whoever made them.