The outbreak involves the rare Bundibugyo virus, with cases reported in Congo and Uganda.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND — The World Health Organization declared an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda a global health emergency Sunday, citing more than 300 suspected cases, dozens of deaths and the risk of wider regional spread.
The decision places the outbreak under the highest level of international health alert used by the WHO. The agency said the event is a public health emergency of international concern, but not a pandemic emergency. The outbreak is caused by Bundibugyo virus, a rare Ebola strain with no approved vaccine or specific treatment. Officials said the declaration is meant to speed up money, supplies, expert teams and cross-border coordination.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus made the determination after consulting officials in Congo and Uganda. The agency said the outbreak appears to have begun in Congo’s Ituri province, near the borders with Uganda and South Sudan. Health officials first reported the spread Friday, and the situation changed quickly over the weekend as suspected infections and deaths rose. Tedros said there were “significant uncertainties” about the true number of infected people and the full geographic spread. He said health officials also had limited information about how some known and suspected cases were linked.
Congo has reported the vast majority of cases. U.S. health officials said that, as of May 17, there were reports of 10 confirmed cases and 336 suspected cases, including 88 deaths, in Congo. Uganda reported two confirmed cases, including one death, in people who had traveled from Congo. No further spread had been reported in Uganda at that time. Congo’s health minister, Samuel Roger Kamba, said authorities had selected sites in Rwampara and Mongwalu for new treatment centers. “We are preparing to have treatment centers at all three sites in order to be able to expand our capabilities,” Kamba said during a visit to Bunia, the capital of Ituri province.
The WHO said a confirmed case also was reported in Kinshasa, Congo’s capital, about 620 miles from the outbreak’s center in Ituri. Officials also reported suspected cases in North Kivu, one of Congo’s most populous provinces. In Goma, eastern Congo’s largest city, local authorities said the first confirmed case had been detected and the infected person was in isolation after traveling from Ituri. The spread into large urban areas raised concern because Ituri is already affected by conflict, displacement and weak health services. The WHO said the outbreak is occurring in areas with armed actors, limited services and large population movements.
Bundibugyo virus has been detected only a few times since it was first identified. Health authorities say this is the third known outbreak caused by the strain. The first was in Uganda’s Bundibugyo district in 2007 and 2008, when 149 people were infected and 37 died. The second was in 2012 in Isiro, Congo, where 57 cases and 29 deaths were reported. Congo and Uganda have faced more than 20 Ebola outbreaks since 1976, but most response tools were built around other Ebola species. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said there is no vaccine for Bundibugyo virus and treatment is supportive care.
Health workers are trying to trace contacts, test samples and isolate patients while dealing with difficult conditions on the ground. The CDC said an early cluster of severe illnesses was identified in a hospital in Bunia Health Zone in northeastern Congo. Initial samples tested negative, but by May 15, eight of 13 samples tested positive and five were inconclusive. Genetic testing identified the virus as Bundibugyo. Patients have had classic Ebola symptoms, including fever, headache, vomiting, severe weakness, abdominal pain, nosebleeds and vomiting blood. Most cases reported in Congo have been among people ages 20 to 39, and about two-thirds have been female patients.
The WHO Regional Office for Africa said a team of 35 experts from the WHO and Congo’s Health Ministry arrived in Bunia with 7 tons of emergency medical supplies and equipment. The team is expected to support surveillance, lab testing, infection control and clinical care. The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said many active cases remain in the community, especially in Mongwalu, a mining area in Ituri where the first cases were reported. Africa CDC Director-General Jean Kaseya said that situation has made containment and contact tracing much harder.
The outbreak has also drawn attention from U.S. officials. The CDC said no cases tied to the outbreak had been confirmed in the United States and that the overall risk to the American public and travelers remained low. The agency said it was working with international partners and health ministries in Congo and Uganda, including through country offices in both nations. It also said it was supporting U.S. government efforts to coordinate the safe withdrawal of a small number of Americans directly affected in outbreak areas. U.S. officials said enhanced travel screening and public health measures were being used at ports of entry.
The WHO said the emergency declaration does not mean international borders should close. Rwanda closed its land border with Congo on Sunday, according to U.S. officials, though WHO guidance warned against steps that could disrupt travel and trade without improving health protection. Regional officials said the outbreak showed the need for faster information sharing among neighboring countries. The East African Community said member states should strengthen surveillance, laboratory diagnosis and infection control, especially near borders where people and goods cross daily.
In Bunia, health workers prepared for more patients while local hospitals remained under strain. Images from the region showed workers in protective gear outside medical facilities and people waiting for temperature checks in Uganda’s capital, Kampala. Dr. Richard Kitenge, a senior official with Congo’s public health emergency operations center, said Congo had managed past Ebola outbreaks even when treatment options were limited. “We have managed enough epidemics in the country without treatment,” Kitenge said. Officials said the next phase will focus on finding cases faster, protecting health workers and setting up treatment capacity in the hardest-hit areas.
The outbreak remained active Monday, May 18, with Congo opening new treatment sites and WHO teams moving supplies into Ituri. Health officials said case totals could change as testing, contact tracing and reporting continue across Congo and Uganda.
Author note: Last updated May 18, 2026.