KINSHASA — Health authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo reported continued expansion of an Ebola outbreak on Thursday, with hundreds of confirmed cases across multiple provinces and cross-border spread to Uganda.
The outbreak, caused by the Bundibugyo virus, was declared on May 15 in Ituri Province in northeastern DRC, according to the Congolese Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization. It is the country’s 17th recorded Ebola outbreak since the virus was first identified in 1976.
As of June 4-5, 2026, DRC authorities have reported more than 380 confirmed cases and about 64 confirmed deaths, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The majority of cases are concentrated in Ituri Province, with additional confirmed infections in North Kivu and South Kivu provinces.
Uganda has recorded around 19 confirmed cases, including at least one death, most linked to travel from DRC, Ugandan health authorities said. The World Health Organization declared the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on May 17.
The Bundibugyo strain has no licensed vaccine or specific treatment, unlike some previous outbreaks caused by the Zaire strain, WHO officials have noted. Response efforts are complicated by insecurity, population displacement, mining activity and cross-border movements in the affected regions.
“Cases continue to rise and the outbreak is outpacing the current response in several areas,” a WHO representative was cited as saying in recent briefings. Health workers have faced challenges including community mistrust and attacks on response teams.
On Friday, the WHO and Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention announced a six-month, $518 million response plan focusing on surveillance, laboratory capacity, case management, and community engagement across affected areas and neighboring countries.
The previous Ebola outbreak in DRC ended in December 2025. This new outbreak has spread more rapidly in its early weeks than some prior incidents, with suspected cases significantly higher than confirmed figures, officials said. Details on the precise number of suspected cases and community deaths remain under investigation.
International partners including the CDC, UNICEF and Médecins Sans Frontières are supporting contact tracing, isolation facilities and risk communication. No cases related to this outbreak have been reported in the United States, according to the CDC.
As of Thursday, response teams continued efforts to contain transmission, with new cases still being reported daily, health authorities said. Timelines for bringing the outbreak under control were not specified.
