DRC Ebola Outbreak Tops 1,100 Cases — Now the Largest Bundibugyo Outbreak on Record — as Virus Reaches Europe

A six-week outbreak that the world is still racing to contain

A rare strain of Ebola has surpassed 1,118 confirmed cases and 291 deaths in the Democratic Republic of Congo, making the current crisis the largest outbreak of Bundibugyo virus on recordmexicobusiness. The virus spread undetected through eastern DRC for roughly six weeks before authorities officially declared an outbreak on May 15, 2026reliefweb. The World Health Organization declared a public health emergency of international concern — its highest alert level — two days laterwho.

The outbreak has since crossed borders. Uganda has confirmed 20 cases and two deaths, all epidemiologically linked to transmission from DRCreliefweb. On June 24, France confirmed an imported case in a doctor who had returned from a humanitarian mission in the affected region, the first Bundibugyo infection recorded in Europe during this outbreaktheguardian.

No vaccine, a conflict zone, and a widening case count

Bundibugyo is one of four orthoebolaviruses that cause Ebola disease in humans; previous outbreaks of this strain, in Uganda in 2007 and DRC in 2012, recorded death rates between 30% and 55%who. Unlike the Zaire strain that drove the 2014–2016 West African epidemic, Bundibugyo has no licensed vaccine and no approved treatment — response relies entirely on isolation, contact tracing, and safe burial practicescdc.

The outbreak's epicenter, Ituri province in northeastern DRC, is one of the country's most conflict-affected regions. Healthcare workers have struggled to enter displacement camps where the virus may be spreading unchecked, and several hospitals and treatment centers were attacked and burned in the early weeks of the responsetheguardian. Contact-tracing follow-up rates in Ituri have hovered around 71%, a gap that experts say leaves room for silent transmission chainswho.

A $1.4 billion funding ask and a southward threat

Africa CDC Director-General Jean Kaseya revised the estimated cost of containing the outbreak to $1.4 billion — nearly triple the $518 million his agency projected at the start of Junecidrap. Of roughly $910 million pledged so far, only 13% had been disbursed, with Kaseya warning: "If we don't have this $1.4 billion and if we don't resolve the humanitarian issue, we will not stop this outbreak"cidrap. The White House separately asked Congress for the same $1.4 billion, split between $550 million for detection and response and $800 million in humanitarian aidcidrap.

WHO modeling published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases estimates a 69.3% probability that at least one case will arrive in South Sudan within a 12-week windowmedicalxpress. South Sudan has some of the weakest public health infrastructure in the region, with known gaps in case management, border surveillance, and safe burial capacitymedicalxpress. Under the study's central scenario, cumulative regional cases could reach 8,210 by September 2026 if transmission is merely sustained; a worst-case scenario projects more than 66,000medicalxpress. UNICEF and Gavi have launched an expression-of-interest process aimed at accelerating Bundibugyo vaccine development, backed by a $40 million Gavi commitmentcidrap.