Overview
- Health authorities raised the alert after cases linked to the Bundibugyo strain were found across multiple provinces in the Democratic Republic of Congo and exported to Uganda, forcing cross‑border screening and travel advisories.
- The World Health Organization designated the event a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on May 17 to speed coordination and to prioritise clinical testing of two monoclonal antibodies and the antiviral obeldesivir.
- There are no licensed vaccines or proven treatments for Bundibugyo, so response teams are relying on case detection, contact tracing, safe burials and experimental or compassionate use of candidate drugs.
- Containment is hampered by violence, displacement, mining‑related population movement and community resistance that has included attacks on treatment tents and the flight of suspected cases into local communities.
- The outbreak has produced hundreds of suspected cases and scores of deaths in the DRC and several confirmed cases in Uganda, and health agencies warn neighbouring countries face heightened risk while supplies, PPE and trained staff remain limited.