A border health officer at the Busunga crossing between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo checks a traveler’s temperature using a contactless infrared thermometer in Bundibugyo, on May 18, 2026. Ugandan officials confirmed that a 59-year-old man from Democratic Republic of Congo had died in Kampala after being admitted earlier in the week. Tests showed the victim in Uganda was infected with the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, first identified in 2007. The World Health Organization declared an international health emergency on May 17, 2026 over an outbreak of an Ebola strain in the Democratic Republic of Congo that has killed more than 80 and for which there is no vaccine. Fears of further spread grew when a laboratory confirmed a case in the major eastern DRC city of Goma, which is controlled by the Rwanda-backed M23 militia.
The World Health Organization chief said Tuesday he was "deeply concerned" by an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo which has spilt into Uganda, believed to have killed 131 people.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Sunday declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) -- the second-highest level of alert under international health regulations.
