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7h ago

Ebola Outbreak in Eastern DRC and Uganda Outpaces Response

International aid and experimental drugs are being rushed to the Bundibugyo outbreak as insecurity, testing backlogs and community distrust block containment.

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Workers load World Health Organization (WHO) emergency supplies onto a United Nations plane in Nairobi, Kenya, Wednesday, May 20, 2026, headed for Congo to combat the Ebola outbreak in Ituri province. (AP Photo/Andrew Kasuku)
World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus arrives in Bunia, in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, on May 30, 2026. The World Health Organization's director general had earlier announced he was coming to Bunia, capital of Ituri province, to "help" and "listen to" the people facing the worst of the outbreak.The highly contagious haemorrhagic fever is already present in three eastern DRC provinces and in neighbouring Uganda, where nine confirmed infections, including one death, have been recorded.There have been at least 1,077 suspected cases of Ebola in the DRC since the outbreak was declared on May 15, including 246 deaths, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said on May 28. (Photo by Glody MURHABAZI / AFP via Getty Images) The highly contagious haemorrhagic fever is already present in three eastern DRC provinces and in neighbouring Uganda, where nine confirmed infections, including one death, have been recorded. There have been at least 1,077 suspected cases of Ebola in the DRC since the outbreak was declared on May 15, including 246 deaths, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said on May 28. (Photo by Glody MURHABAZI / AFP)
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Overview

  • WHO Director‑General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus visited Bunia on Saturday to press for community cooperation and for armed groups to allow health teams safe access to patients.
  • Health authorities report roughly 900–1,100 suspected cases with more than 100 confirmed infections and several hundred suspected deaths in the DRC and Uganda, and the first confirmed patient has been discharged.
  • Laboratory testing is overwhelmed because many available tests target other Ebola species, creating a confirmation backlog that has slowed isolation, contact tracing and surveillance.
  • WHO and partners have prioritised candidate therapies and vaccines for rapid assessment, including two monoclonal antibody candidates, remdesivir and an oral post‑exposure antiviral, while doses and trial logistics are mobilised.
  • Operational hurdles — active fighting, attacks on health centres, mass displacement and donor funding shortfalls — are limiting care and could widen transmission if testing, safe burials and community outreach do not scale up quickly.