WHO Sounds Alarm Over Ebola Rare Strain in Congo and Uganda

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TRH World Desk

Cross-border transmission, unexplained deaths, and the absence of approved vaccines for the Bundibugyo strain have triggered the WHO’s highest level of international health alarm.

GENEVA, May 17, 2026 — The World Health Organization has officially declared the Ebola outbreak spreading across the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Uganda a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC), raising the alarm over a rare viral strain for which no approved vaccine or treatment currently exists.

In a formal statement, the WHO said: “WHO…is hereby determining that the Ebola disease caused by Bundibugyo virus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda constitutes a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC), but does not meet the criteria of pandemic emergency.”

The outbreak met the threshold for WHO’s highest level of alarm under international health regulations due to cross-border transmission, unexplained clusters of deaths, and major uncertainty about the true scale of the epidemic per a report in Bloomberg.

Death Toll and Confirmed Cases

As of Sunday, the UN health agency, according to a report by CNN, reported 80 suspected deaths, eight laboratory-confirmed cases, and 246 suspected cases across at least three health zones in DRC’s Ituri province — including Bunia, Rwampara, and Mongbwalu.

Africa’s top public health body confirmed this is the DRC’s 17th Ebola outbreak since the disease was first identified in the country in 1976, said PBS in a news report.

In Uganda’s capital, Kampala, two apparently unrelated laboratory-confirmed cases — including one death — were reported on Friday and Saturday, both linked to individuals who had travelled from the DRC. A laboratory-confirmed case was also reported in the DRC capital, Kinshasa, from a person returning from Ituri province.

Countries sharing land borders with DRC have been identified as being at high risk for further spread. The WHO has advised nations to activate national disaster and emergency-management mechanisms, and to undertake cross-border and internal road screening.

Why This Strain Is Particularly Dangerous

Health authorities describe the outbreak as “extraordinary” because there are no approved Bundibugyo virus-specific therapeutics or vaccines, unlike for the more commonly known Ebola Zaire strains. “All but one of the DRC’s previous outbreaks were caused by the Zaire strain,” said CNN in a report.

The outbreak could be much larger than currently recorded, given the high positivity rate of initial samples and an increasing number of suspected cases being reported, the WHO warned.

The often-fatal virus — which causes fever, body aches, vomiting, and diarrhoea — spreads through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected persons, contaminated materials, or persons who have died from the disease, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

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