Overview
- As surveillance expanded, WHO and Congolese authorities identified more than 900 suspected cases, about 101 confirmed infections and roughly 220 suspected deaths in eastern DRC, figures that public health officials warned have surged in recent days.
- The outbreak, centred in Ituri province, was declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on May 17 to speed international support and resource mobilization.
- The virus is the rare Bundibugyo ebolavirus for which no licensed vaccine or strain-specific treatment exists, so response teams rely on contact tracing, isolation and supportive care while experimental options are evaluated.
- Violence and community mistrust have repeatedly disrupted the response, with treatment tents torched, a hospital in Mongbwalu attacked and dozens of suspected patients fleeing, leaving many contacts untraced and health workers displaced.
- The outbreak has crossed into Uganda, with seven confirmed cases including infected health workers in Kampala, prompting neighbouring states to tighten screening and WHO to allocate $3.9 million and set up regional coordination with Africa CDC.