Overview
- Health authorities declared the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo on May 15 after identifying the rare Bundibugyo ebolavirus and the WHO raised the alarm as cases spread into neighbouring Uganda.
- WHO and Congolese officials now report about 321 confirmed infections and roughly 48 deaths while the number of suspected cases was revised down to about 116 after many were ruled out by follow-up testing.
- Early diagnostic failure occurred because common automated tests detect the Zaire species but not Bundibugyo, so confirmation required more complex PCR kits and sequencing that are scarce outside central labs, which delayed detection and response.
- The U.S. plan to house exposed Americans at a 50‑bed facility at Laikipia Air Base in Kenya was temporarily blocked by the Kenyan High Court and provoked large local protests that turned violent with reports of at least one death, complicating regional preparedness.
- International agencies are accelerating countermeasures by prioritizing candidate monoclonal antibodies, antivirals and vaccines for trials and by sending teams and supplies, but limited lab capacity, conflict, displacement and community mistrust remain major obstacles to containment.