Ebola outbreak in Congo kills dozens, spreads concern to Uganda
Dozens have died in Congo’s eastern Ebola outbreak, while a fatal imported case in Kampala has widened alarm across the region.
Ebola has returned to one of Congo’s most unstable corners, and the danger is multiplying. In Ituri province, where rival militias have kept civilians and health workers under pressure, the World Health Organization confirmed Ebola Bundibugyo after laboratory analysis found 13 positive samples among 20 tested from suspected cases. The agency said 67 community deaths were suspected to be linked to the virus, while Congo’s health ministry later put the toll at 80 deaths and 246 suspected cases.
The outbreak’s reach is already crossing borders. Uganda confirmed an imported case involving a 59-year-old Congolese national who died in Kampala after being admitted to Kibuli Muslim Hospital on May 11, 2026. Ugandan authorities moved to activate screening, surveillance and rapid-response measures at border points and transit routes, a sign that the outbreak has become a regional containment problem rather than a local health emergency. Africa CDC said it was convening an urgent coordination meeting with Congo, Uganda, South Sudan and global partners to reinforce cross-border surveillance, preparedness and response.
The epidemiological threat is being sharpened by the security crisis in eastern Congo. Ituri has recently seen deadly militia attacks, including one on April 28 that killed at least 69 people. The violence is tied to long-running Hema-Lendu tensions, the Codeco militia and other armed groups, creating conditions that make tracing contacts, reaching isolated communities and maintaining trust in health workers far more difficult. WHO said it had already deployed a mission to Ituri, while national authorities activated emergency coordination mechanisms and additional rapid-response teams.
The strain itself is a reminder that the virus remains highly lethal. WHO said Ebola Bundibugyo was first identified in 2007 in Bundibugyo district, western Uganda, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says it causes death in about 30% of those infected. Health officials said patients have presented with fever, body pain, weakness, vomiting and, in some cases, bleeding, with several deteriorating quickly.
For Congo, this is the country’s 16th Ebola outbreak. The most recent one before this was declared over on December 1, 2025, after 64 cases and 45 deaths in Kasai Province. That outbreak included five health workers, and transmission was linked first to a funeral gathering and then to spread in a hospital, a pattern that underscores how quickly Ebola can exploit crowded settings and fragile health systems when conflict and displacement are already eroding the ground beneath them.
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