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Ebola Outbreak in Eastern DRC Expands into Displacement Camps and Uganda

Gaps in surveillance, weak contact tracing, and no approved vaccine raise the risk of rapid spread into crowded camps followed by cross‑border transmission.

A displaced family sits during an Ebola awareness session as humanitarian agencies intensify efforts to contain a new Ebola outbreak involving the Bundibugyo strain, at Kpangba displacement camp where Ebola cases were observed, Djugu territory in Ituri province, Democratic Republic of Congo, June 13, 2026. REUTERS/Gradel Muyisa Mumbere.
Kpangba displacement camp where Ebola cases were observed as humanitarian agencies intensify efforts to contain a new Ebola outbreak involving the Bundibugyo strain, Djugu territory in Ituri province, Democratic Republic of Congo, June 13, 2026. REUTERS/Gradel Muyisa Mumbere.
A sign near the Nizi health centre during an Ebola awareness session as humanitarian agencies intensify efforts to contain a new Ebola outbreak involving the Bundibugyo strain, at Kpangba displacement camp where Ebola cases were observed, Djugu territory in Ituri province, Democratic Republic of Congo, June 13, 2026. REUTERS/Gradel Muyisa Mumbere.
Health workers prepare the coffin of Angèle Muyumba Nsimire, a university student who died of Ebola at the Citadelle Clinic in Bunia, Congo, Friday, June 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)

Overview

  • The DRC health ministry reported the outbreak has grown to about 710 confirmed cases with 149 deaths, with official counts rising into the 600–700 range by mid‑June and more areas reporting infections.
  • Public health teams identify the rare Bundibugyo ebolavirus as the cause and have no approved vaccine or strain‑specific treatment, so care is largely supportive while experimental candidates are evaluated.
  • The virus has reached dense displacement sites, with UNHCR confirming Ebola deaths in the Kpangba camp and responders driven away by angry residents blocking body recovery and contact tracing.
  • WHO and Africa CDC say surveillance blind spots and weak contact tracing are understating the outbreak’s scope, with officials noting far fewer listed and actively followed contacts than the numbers needed to stop transmission.
  • Children and displaced people face acute risk because of malnutrition, crowded sanitation and low routine vaccination, and international agencies warn that funding, lab capacity and secured access must increase to prevent wider spread.