Ebola Response Faces Urgency As Bundibugyo Outbreak Spreads

Bunia, August 11, 2026 - Congolese authorities and international health partners urged a faster response to an Ebola Bundibugyo outbreak that remained active across parts of the country, with Ituri still described as the epicenter.

A government situation update dated August 10, with data through August 8, listed 4,294 confirmed cases since the start of the outbreak, including 1,960 deaths, a case fatality rate of 45.6 percent. Authorities said 722 patients were in isolation or hospitalized, 849 had recovered, and contact tracing follow-up had reached 84.6 percent.

The outbreak was reported across five provinces, affecting 53 of 140 health zones and 246 health areas. Active transmission continued in Ituri, North Kivu and Haut-Uele, while South Kivu had gone 73 days without a new confirmed case.

A high-level WHO and Africa CDC mission visited Uganda and the DRC on August 4-5 to review Uganda's experience in controlling local transmission and assess operational challenges in the DRC. In Bunia, the delegation met frontline teams and affected communities as health officials warned that the virus was spreading faster than the response.

The scale and geography of the outbreak present a continuing operational risk for travel, staffing and logistics in affected provinces. Scientific progress toward a vaccine effective against the Bundibugyo strain may improve the medium-term outlook, but authorities said immediate containment measures still need to be strengthened.