Cross‑border Ebola outbreak involving Bundibugyo ^{CEFR B2}

Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo are working to contain a cross‑border outbreak of Ebola caused by the rare Bundibugyo species. The World Health Organization declared a public health emergency of international concern on 17 May after two cases were confirmed in Kampala and signs the virus was spreading across borders. There is no approved vaccine or treatment for Bundibugyo.

By 16 May WHO reported eight laboratory‑confirmed cases, 246 suspected cases and 80 suspected deaths in Ituri province in the DRC. Two travellers from the DRC tested positive in Kampala; one was a 59‑year‑old Congolese man who died on 14 May in a private hospital, while a second Kampala case appears to be unrelated. The first suspected case began with a health worker in Bunia on 24 April, but Ebola was only confirmed on 15 May. In the three weeks that followed, four health workers died, the virus reached Kampala, and an infected woman travelled to Goma. Initial Ebola Xpert tests in Bunia were negative, and genomic sequencing at the DRC’s National Institute of Biomedical Research identified the Bundibugyo strain. WHO has warned the outbreak is likely larger than reported, citing a high positivity rate in early samples, rising syndromic reporting and clusters of community deaths.

Uganda has activated its national emergency response: screening, surveillance and rapid‑response teams at official and unofficial entry points, a mobile laboratory and an eCommunity health information system to route alerts to emergency centres. Contact tracers have identified 103 contacts who are followed daily for 21 days. President Yoweri Museveni postponed the 3 June Martyrs Day celebrations to protect lives but said the border with the DRC would remain open; WHO advised against border closures because they can push movement onto harder‑to‑monitor routes.

WHO director‑general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus issued the PHEIC declaration without convening an emergency committee. Africa CDC director Jean Kaseya said he was on "panic mode" because there are no medicines and urged rapid international support. Africa CDC is in talks with companies in Egypt and India about experimental diagnostics, vaccines and treatments and has called for US$2 million to build a personal protective equipment plant. Helen Clark stressed the urgent need for diagnostic capacity and international solidarity. MSF estimates the Bundibugyo case fatality rate at 25–40% and notes the strain has caused only three documented outbreaks since 2007.