A rare Bundibugyo species with no vaccine. A conflict zone with no peace. How the 17th Ebola outbreak in DRC became an international emergency in twelve days.
WHO is alerted to clusters of severe illness in Mongbwalu Health Zone, Ituri Province, deep in DRC's mineral-rich northeast.
Four health workers die within four days. Patients present with fever, body pain, vomiting, and in some cases, bleeding.
The virus has already been silently spreading since late April.
Lab analysis confirms Bundibugyo species in 8 of 13 blood samples, a rare species of Ebola last seen in a major outbreak over a decade ago.
There is no licensed vaccine. There is no approved treatment. Standard rapid-test platforms cannot detect this species.
DRC officially declares its 17th Ebola outbreak. On the same day, Uganda confirms a Bundibugyo case in Kampala, an elderly man admitted on 11 May died on 14 May, 2026.
A second unlinked case is confirmed in Kampala within 24 hours.
The outbreak has spread south from Ituri into Nord Kivu and Sud Kivu. WHO upgrades DRC's risk to “very high.”
A treatment centre is burned in Rwampara.
An American national tests positive and is evacuated to Germany.
Uganda reports 3 new confirmed cases, all in Kampala, a city of 3.6 million and a major international air hub. Uganda total: 5 confirmed cases, 1 death.
What started in a remote mining town is now in a capital city with flights across Africa and the world. A significant escalation.
WHO warns of a “catastrophic collision of disease and conflict.” Armed groups control much of the outbreak zone.
10 million people in the affected provinces face acute hunger.
An Oxford/Serum Institute vaccine candidate may reach trials in 2,3 months.
WHO Disease Outbreak Notice DON605 reports 134 confirmed cases across both countries, including nine confirmed in Uganda, all in Kampala. Eighteen deaths among confirmed cases.
At least three Uganda cases are linked to travel from DRC. Seven show signs of local transmission within Kampala.
Five health workers become the first to be discharged from Bunia's Ebola Treatment Centre, proof that Bundibugyo can be survived with early, dedicated care.
“This is a victory worth celebrating. It is possible to recover from Ebola when seeking care early in a dedicated facility.”
— Dr Dieudonne Mwamba Kazadi, INRB DRC
Standard rapid Ebola tests only detect Zaire ebolavirus. They cannot detect Bundibugyo. Every symptomatic patient required individual PCR testing.
As PCR capacity scaled across Ituri, those 1,077 suspected cases were progressively tested. The majority returned negative and were removed from the count.
What remains: 344 DRC confirmed and 15 Uganda confirmed, across 23 health zones in Ituri, Nord Kivu and Sud Kivu.
19 new confirmed cases and two new deaths are reported in the DRC. A new health zone, Rimba in Ituri Province, reports its first three confirmed cases.
A first sign of containment: 32 contacts in Rwampara health zone complete the 21-day follow-up period.
18 new confirmed cases and no new deaths are reported in the DRC. A new health zone, Lita in Ituri Province, records its first confirmed case.
19 cases have absconded from care, 2 confirmed and 17 suspected, all in Ituri, posing a major risk for continued community transmission.
A safe and dignified burial team in Mongbwalu Health Zone was attacked by local residents; the mission vehicle sustained damage, its rearview mirror and windshield broken.
105 new confirmed cases and 16 new deaths are reported across three DRC provinces. Uganda adds 3 confirmed cases and its second death.
Bed occupancy in Bunia is now critical, the CTE treatment centre at 100% capacity and CME Bunia at 90%.
31 new confirmed cases, 6 deaths and 9 recoveries are reported across Ituri Province.
At Bunia General Referral Hospital, health-service use has collapsed across all departments as communities fear contamination. Patients are missing appointments for HIV, TB, NCDs and antenatal care, with no catch-up plan in place.
On the night of 6 June, a safe-burial team was attacked at Nyamurongo Cemetery, injuring two people and damaging two vehicles.
45 new confirmed cases, 12 deaths and 3 recoveries are reported in Ituri.
Contact tracing reveals that one confirmed case had travelled to Kisangani, the capital of Tshopo Province, raising the risk of spread to a new region.
A delayed backlog from North Kivu adds five confirmed cases and seven deaths, a grim sign the virus has been spreading undetected in the province.
In Ituri, 29 new cases and five deaths are reported, and a new health zone, Kambala, reports cases for the first time.
17 new confirmed cases, including five deaths, were reported from Bunia (6), Rwampara (5), Mongbwalu (4), and Nizi (2) health zones in Ituri Province.
Contact tracing in Ituri is described as “alarmingly low,” at 17.4%, primarily due to missing data from high-burden zones such as Bunia and Rwampara.
21 new confirmed cases and 10 deaths were reported: Bunia (8), Mangala (3), Mongbwalu (3), and Rwampara (1) in Ituri Province, and Beni (5) and Katwa (1) in North Kivu Province.
Three patients were declared cured on 12 June. Notably, a one-week-old infant born to a confirmed, deceased mother was discharged as a “non-case” from the Rwampara CTE.
The outbreak is marked by a steady week-over-week increase in confirmed cases, signalling active community transmission.
26 new confirmed cases, including 11 deaths, were reported from Ituri Province (21 cases) and North Kivu Province (5 cases).
Eight patients were declared recovered, including three in Bunia and five in Rwampara Health Zone, both in Ituri Province.
363 patients are currently isolated, with an 82.9% global bed occupancy rate. Ituri's facilities are near saturation at 93.9% capacity.
21 new confirmed cases (16 from Ituri and 5 from North Kivu) and 6 new deaths (4 from Ituri and 2 from North Kivu) were reported from the DRC.
Three healthcare workers are isolated after a high-risk exposure to a Bundibugyo virus patient in the health facility.
Twelve patients were declared recovered after obtaining negative follow-up test results, bringing total recoveries to 102.
The same day, 23 new confirmed cases, including 2 deaths, were reported in Ituri (21 cases, 2 deaths) and North Kivu (2 cases).
By 4 July, the outbreak has reached 1,581 confirmed cases and 508 deaths across the DRC and Uganda, a case fatality rate of 32.1%.
270 patients have recovered. In the DRC, 8,221 of 10,079 registered contacts (81.6%) have been followed up; Uganda reports 100% follow-up.
Uganda completes 42 days, twice the maximum incubation period of Bundibugyo virus, with no new confirmed case. Africa CDC and WHO declare the country's outbreak over. The countdown began when the last patient was discharged on 16 July after testing negative twice.
Declared on 15 May, Uganda's outbreak ends with 20 confirmed cases: 15 imported from the DRC and 5 acquired locally among contacts and health workers. 18 patients recovered; 2 died. More than 800 contacts were traced and monitored.
Transmission continues in the DRC. The regional emergency is not over.
Africa CDC welcomes an increase in UK government support for the Ebola response, taking Britain's total commitment to £78.7 million. The money backs the response in the DRC and Uganda, alongside regional coordination and preparedness.
The statement follows a meeting in Addis Ababa between Africa CDC Director General Dr Jean Kaseya and UK Minister for Development Kirsty McNeill, who set out the UK's backing for an African-led response in the House of Commons.
The funding carries surveillance, laboratory capacity, infection prevention and control, case management, community engagement and cross-border preparedness.
“We are working closely with the DRC, neighbouring countries and partners to stop transmission, protect communities and support health workers on the front line.” Dr Jean Kaseya
Africa CDC's Executive Brief 127 puts the DRC at 8,067 confirmed cases and 3,901 deaths, a case fatality rate of 48.4%. With Uganda's closed outbreak the two countries total 8,087 cases and 3,903 deaths.
Ituri carries 76.3% of all cases, but North Kivu is the deadlier front: 59.5% of its confirmed cases die, against 46.0% in Ituri. 773 patients are in treatment centres or isolation, and 78 new cases were confirmed in a single day.
The money has arrived. Commitments reached roughly $2.9 billion after the G20+ meeting in New York on 23 September. The reach has not. Contact follow up has fallen from 77.8% to 74.7%, Tshopo is in ERVEBO vaccine stockout, and 258 health workers have been infected, 49 of them fatally.
Four months on, still no licensed vaccine and no approved treatment for Bundibugyo.
Kenya confirms its first imported case of Bundibugyo virus disease. A 40 year old Kenyan man, who had lived in the DRC for about seven years, fell ill there, travelled by road through Beni to Kampala on 2 October, and flew into Nairobi on 3 October.
He was isolated on arrival at a Nairobi hospital. He died on the night of 5 October and was buried the next day under Kenya's safe and dignified burial protocol. The National Virology Reference Laboratory and KEMRI both confirmed the virus.
28 contacts are listed, among them family members and health workers. A further 23 passengers and 4 crew from the same flight are being traced.
Kenya has screened more than 652,000 travellers since May and assessed isolation units across 27 high risk counties. One man still crossed two borders before anyone knew.
Kenya confirms a ninth case, a 24 year old man and close family member of the index case, who was already in quarantine when he fell ill. All nine cases belong to one cluster, and the Ministry of Health reports no evidence of transmission outside it.
One death, the index case. The other eight patients are alive and improving, stable under treatment, with 500 doses of medicines received to support their care.
Contact tracing has widened as each case is confirmed. 134 of 135 contacts, or 99.3%, have been traced and quarantined, against a global benchmark of 85%. There has been no spread inside quarantine facilities and no health worker has been infected.
Supplies have gone to 12 very high risk and 16 high risk counties, and a dedicated laboratory now runs at the Kenyatta National Hospital Infectious Disease Unit so Ebola samples never enter the main hospital lab. Kenya remains open, with no restrictions on travel, trade or gatherings.
From 25 October, the first contacts to enter quarantine on 6 October complete 21 days without symptoms and begin going home.
No vaccine. No treatment. The outbreak continues.
Source: Africa CDC
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