What to know about the outbreak of a rare kind of Ebola as cases and deaths rise
ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — The World Health Organization has declared the Ebola disease outbreak in Congo and Uganda a public health emergency of international concern.
Africa’s top public health body confirmed the outbreak in Congo’s Ituri province on Friday. By the following day, authorities said 336 suspected cases and 88 deaths had been reported. Congo’s health minister, Samuel Roger Kamba, said Tuesday that 134 people have died.
Health authorities say the outbreak is caused by Bundibugyo, a rare type of Ebola that has no approved medicines or vaccines. The outbreak is occurring in a part of Congo facing violent conflict with armed groups and a humanitarian crisis, complicating the response.
Residents in the Ugandan capital expressed their fears and concerns on Saturday after officials confirmed a case of Ebola following a new outbreak in neighboring Congo. (AP video shot by: Patrick Onen)
“This is a context that is incredibly complicated to try to manage,” said Lina Moses, an epidemiologist and disease ecologist at Tulane University who worked as a first responder coordinating contact tracing during the 2014 West Africa Ebola outbreak.
Here’s what to know:
How Ebola can spread
The Ebola virus is highly contagious and can be transmitted to people from wild animals. It spreads in the human population through contact with bodily fluids such as vomit, blood or semen, and with surfaces and materials such as bedding and clothing contaminated with these fluids.
The disease it causes is a rare but severe and often fatal illness in people. Symptoms include fever, vomiting, diarrhea, muscle pain and at times internal and external bleeding.
The virus was first discovered in 1976 near the Ebola River in what is now Congo. The first outbreaks occurred in remote villages in Central Africa, near tropical rainforests.
What the WHO’s emergency declaration means
The WHO says the latest Ebola outbreak does not meet the criteria for a pandemic emergency, such as COVID-19, and advises against closing international borders.
Its emergency declaration is meant to spur donors into action. However, the global response to previous declarations has been mixed.
When the WHO declared mpox outbreaks in Congo and elsewhere in Africa as a global emergency in 2024, experts at the time said it did little to get supplies like diagnostic tests, medicines and vaccines to affected countries quickly.
On Tuesday, WHO representatives in Congo said organizations on the ground and assisting with the response included UNICEF, the International Organization for Migration, Médecins Sans Frontières, the World Food Program and the Red Cross.
Where the outbreak started
The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the first cases were reported in Mongwalu health zone, a high-traffic mining area in eastern Congo’s Ituri province, and Bunia, the province’s capital.
Ituri is in remote eastern Congo, with poor road networks, and is more than 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) from the capital, Kinshasa.
The Africa CDC said a major concern is the proximity of affected areas to Uganda and South Sudan. Bunia is near the border with Uganda.
The agency said there’s a risk of further spread due to intense population movement and attacks by armed groups that have displaced thousands of people in parts of Ituri in the past year.
Which kind of Ebola is spreading
The WHO says Ebola is caused by a group of viruses, and three kinds are known to cause large outbreaks: Ebola virus, Sudan virus and Bundibugyo virus.
The Bundibugyo type of Ebola is rare and different from the Zaire kind that has been dominant in all of Congo’s past 17 outbreaks except one.
It was first detected in Uganda’s Bundibugyo district during a 2007-2008 outbreak that killed 37 people. The second time was in 2012 in an outbreak in Isiro, Congo, where 29 deaths were reported.
Dr. Gabriel Nsakala, a professor of public health who has been involved in past Ebola responses in Congo, said the country has extensive experience managing Ebola outbreaks, but response efforts could be complicated by the unusual type.
What is being done to respond
When the outbreak was confirmed on Friday, the Africa CDC convened an urgent high-level meeting with health authorities from Congo, Uganda and South Sudan, together with key partners including U.N. agencies.
A WHO technical advisory group is looking at candidate vaccines that could be prioritized for clinical trial.
Concerns for health official include cross-border coordination, surveillance, safe and dignified burials and resource mobilization in a vast region with poor infrastructure.
Africa CDC Director-General Dr. Jean Kaseya has said teams have been deployed at official and nonofficial border crossing points and high-risk contacts are being isolated.
Funding is a challenge. WHO director-general Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus said Tuesday he has approved $3.4 million from the Contingency Fund for Emergencies, bringing the total to $3.9 million approved since last week. Africa CDC says it has mobilized $2 million.
Concerns remain about the impact of U.S. funding cuts by the Trump administration. The U.S. had supported responses to Congo’s past Ebola outbreaks. The U.S. State Department this week said it sprang into action immediately and has provided $13 million for the response.
