The World Health Organization said the outbreak does not meet the criteria of a pandemic emergency, and advised against the closure of international borders.
Ambulances parked at Bunia General Referral Hospital following confirmation of an Ebola outbreak involving the Bundibugyo strain in Bunia, Ituri province, Democratic Republic of Congo, May 16, 2026.in Congo and Uganda a public health emergency of international concern on Sunday after more than 300 suspected cases and 88 deaths.
Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content. In a post on X, the World Health Organization said the outbreak does not meet the criteria of a pandemic emergency like the Covid-19 pandemic, and advised against the closure of international borders. Health authorities have confirmed the current outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo virus, a rare variant of the Ebola disease that has no approved therapeutics or vaccines.
Although more than 20 Ebola outbreaks have taken place in Congo and Uganda, this is only the third time the Bundibugyo virus has been reported.in Congo’s eastern province of Ituri, close to Uganda and South Sudan, on Friday. On Saturday, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention reported 336 suspected cases and 87 deaths. Congo accounts for all except two of the cases, both of which were reported in neighboring Uganda, the WHO said.
Uganda on Saturday confirmed one case it said was imported from Congo, and said the patient died at a hospital in Uganda’s capital, Kampala, and the WHO said that a second case has been reported in Kampala. The two cases had no apparent links to each other and both patients had traveled from Congo, it added. The Bundibugyo virus was first detected in Uganda’s Bundibugyo district during a 2007-2008 outbreak that infected 149 people and killed 37 people.
The second time was in 2012 in an outbreak in Isiro, Congo, where 57 cases and 29 deaths were reported.
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WHO declares global health emergency over Ebola outbreak in Congo and UgandaWHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has declared the Ebola disease outbreak in Congo and Uganda a public health emergency of international concern after more than 300 suspected cases and 88 deaths.
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