Ebola outbreak in Congo and Uganda tops 40 deaths, spreads fast
More than 40 people have died as Ebola moved across eastern Congo and into Uganda, exposing gaps in surveillance, isolation and cross-border response.
Ebola deaths in Congo and Uganda have climbed past 40 as health officials race to contain a Bundibugyo virus outbreak that has already spread beyond its original center in eastern Congo. The World Health Organization said the strain has no approved vaccine or specific treatment, and warned that the response is unfolding in a remote, crowded and insecure zone where population movement and trade make containment harder.
The outbreak was officially declared by the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda on May 15, and WHO escalated it to a Public Health Emergency of International Concern two days later. By May 21, WHO had counted 746 suspected cases and 176 suspected deaths in Congo, along with 85 confirmed cases across both countries, including two in Uganda and one confirmed death there. Uganda has reported imported cases and no confirmed local transmission.
The scale of the crisis widened further by May 30, when Africa CDC said there were 263 confirmed cases and 43 confirmed deaths, with more than 1,100 suspected cases under investigation. WHO has said transmission was concentrated in Ituri Province and had spread into North Kivu and South Kivu, underscoring how quickly the virus moved through a region already strained by displacement, insecurity and heavy travel between communities and across borders.
U.S. health officials said Congo had reported 246 suspected cases and 80 deaths as of May 16, with laboratory tests confirming Bundibugyo virus in eight of 13 samples from clusters in Mongbwalu and Rwampara health zones. The outbreak is Congo’s 17th recorded Ebola outbreak since 1976, and the previous one ended only in December 2025, leaving little margin for a slow start or weak surveillance. Africa CDC said this is already the third-largest Ebola outbreak since the virus was discovered.
Uganda moved to close its border with Congo on May 27 in an effort to limit spread, but the border action came after the virus had already crossed into Uganda. WHO said an American national working in Congo also tested positive and was transferred to Germany for care, a reminder that weak control in one part of the region can quickly become a wider international health-security problem.
The response now depends on whether health authorities can improve case finding, isolation, contact tracing and community trust fast enough to outrun the outbreak. WHO and Africa CDC have both stressed that community engagement, supplies and cross-border coordination will be central, but the rising case counts show how quickly delays can turn an outbreak in eastern Congo into a regional emergency.
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