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Ebola outbreak in DR Congo and Uganda

The Ebola outbreak caused by the Bundibugyo virus currently affects multiple countries, including the DRC (Ituri, Kinshasa) and Uganda (Kampala). As of May 16, 2026, a total of 34 deaths have been reported. The official risk is assessed by WHO as "very high".

Personal risk
Risk low

WHO global risk is low; for travellers without contact to cases or funerary/healthcare settings in affected provinces the risk is very low.

WHO global assessment
Risk very high
WHO
As of: 16 May 2026 · Source: WHO
Published by Dominik Martin · Software engineer and data aggregator· Methodology last reviewed: 17 May 2026· Methodology version 1.0
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Latest coverage

As of: 25/05/2026, 03:51
  1. Doctors Without Borders
    Bundibugyo virus: Why this Ebola disease outbreak is different
  2. World Health Organization (WHO)
    First meeting of the IHR Emergency Committee regarding the epidemic of Ebola Bundibugyo virus disease in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda 2026 – Temporary recommendations
  3. Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance
    Bundibugyo, the rare virus causing a deadly new Ebola outbreak, has no vaccine yet. Here’s what we know
  4. University of California
    Q&A: The new Ebola outbreak
  5. European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control
    Ebola virus disease outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda
  6. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention | CDC (.gov)
    Ebola Disease Outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda | HAN

External coverage via Google News, refreshed automatically. Editorial responsibility for the listed articles lies with the publishing outlets — not InfectRisk. Only the dossier text above is editorially curated.

What is known so far

On May 5, 2026, WHO received an alert regarding an unknown illness with high mortality in the Mongbwalu Health Zone, Ituri Province, where four health workers died within four days. Following an in-depth investigation, the outbreak was confirmed on May 15 as Bundibugyo virus disease. On the same day, the Ministry of Health, Hygiene and Social Welfare declared the 17th Ebola outbreak in the DRC. By May 15, a total of 246 suspected cases and 80 deaths had been reported. On May 16, WHO confirmed that the outbreak constitutes a public health emergency of international concern. In Uganda, an imported case was reported on May 15, followed by another on May 16. On May 22, the risk in the DRC was raised to "very high". On May 24, the BBC reported the deaths of Red Cross volunteers who may have been infected before the outbreak was identified.

Pathogen: Bundibugyo virus

The pathogen is the Bundibugyo strain of ebolavirus — a rare species first identified in western Uganda in 2007. Unlike the Zaire strain (for which a licensed vaccine and monoclonal-antibody therapeutics are available), WHO states that no Bundibugyo-specific therapeutics or vaccines are currently approved. Ebolaviruses are typically transmitted through direct contact with the blood or bodily fluids of an infected person, contaminated surfaces, or infected animals; airborne human-to-human transmission is not well established, and contact-and-droplet precautions are considered effective in clinical settings. Symptoms typically appear 2 to 21 days after exposure, beginning with fever and general illness, and can progress to severe, often fatal haemorrhagic disease.

Travel and exposure risk

WHO advises that contacts or cases of Bundibugyo virus disease should not travel internationally unless it is part of an appropriate medical evacuation. Because the hotspots are partly urban (Bunia, Kinshasa, Kampala) and semi-urban, and because the region sees high population mobility, WHO and Africa CDC consider the risk of cross-border spread to be high. For travellers without direct contact to ill people or to funerary or healthcare settings in the affected health zones, individual risk based on current knowledge remains low. Anyone returning from affected regions who develops symptoms — fever, vomiting, diarrhoea or unusual bleeding — within 21 days should self-isolate and contact a health authority or clinic by phone without visiting in person unprotected.

Official response

WHO is coordinating the response with the national health authorities of DR Congo and Uganda, with Africa CDC and with neighbouring-country authorities; contact tracing, surveillance, risk communication and infection prevention are being scaled up in the affected health zones. Africa CDC additionally cites ongoing insecurity in the region, gaps in contact listing, infection-prevention challenges and the proximity of affected areas to Uganda and South Sudan as compounding risk factors. Because no approved vaccine or Bundibugyo-specific therapeutic is available, the response focuses on classical outbreak control, supportive clinical care and on studies of platform-spanning therapeutic candidates.

What we don't track

InfectRisk tracks respiratory infections — influenza, COVID, RSV — in 36 countries, based on national surveillance systems. Ebola is a haemorrhagic disease and is outside our app data stream; the authoritative sources are WHO and Africa CDC. This page consolidates the official notifications and their assessment; it is not medical advice. In case of suspected exposure or symptoms, contact your public-health authority or a clinic by phone.

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Sources

Content reviewed on 17 May 2026 by Dominik Martin. The page is updated when new official assessments become available; the review date at the top reflects the latest revision. Corrections or additions: email dominik@infectrisk.com.
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