Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak: no vaccine and expanding
The World Health Organization (WHO) declared a global health emergency due to the Ebola outbreak in Central Africa. Although it is not considered a pandemic, the Bundibugyo strain—for which there is no vaccine or treatment—has already caused 88 deaths in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), with 336 suspected cases.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus expressed concern about the spread. The organization activated the second highest alert level, only surpassed by the pandemic.
“There are significant uncertainties about the actual number of infected people and their geographic distribution,” Ghebreyesus said.
Among the confirmed cases, one was detected in the eastern city of Goma, controlled by the Rwandan-backed M23 militia. This is a woman, widow of a man who died of Ebola in Bunia. Two cases were also reported in Uganda, where a 59-year-old man died last Thursday.
Bundibugyo virus causes fever, muscle pain and fatigue, followed by vomiting, diarrhea and bleeding. Its mortality rate reaches 50%, lower than that of the Zaire strain (60-90%), but more dangerous due to the lack of immunization.
The situation on the ground is critical. Doctors Without Borders is preparing for a large-scale response.
“We have seen people die in the last two weeks. There is nowhere to isolate the sick. They die at home and their bodies are handled by their relatives,” declared Isaac Nyakulinda, a representative of local civil society.
The spread is exacerbated by the DRC’s poor infrastructure. The cases are concentrated in isolated areas, which makes both logistics and investigation difficult. The WHO warns that the high positivity rate and confirmation in two countries “point to a potentially much larger epidemic than that detected.”
Ebola is transmitted through bodily fluids; The incubation period can last up to 21 days. This is the seventeenth outbreak in the country. The previous one, in August 2025, left at least 34 dead before being eradicated in December. The deadliest epidemic in the DRC (2018-2020) claimed nearly 2,300 lives. In the last 50 years, the disease has caused approximately 15 thousand deaths in Africa.
