Ebola outbreak in DRC and Uganda passes 1,000 cases as WHO raises risk to “very high”

The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Uganda has now exceeded 1,000 combined suspected and confirmed cases, with 1,005 cases and 230 deaths reported in the DRC alone. Cases are concentrated in Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu, with confirmed infections now emerging in major urban centers like Bunia and Goma. Uganda has reported five confirmed cases and one death, including the first locally transmitted cases confirmed on May 23. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) on May 16, later revising its risk assessment to 'very high' at the national level for the DRC and 'high' at the regional level in Africa. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus noted that the rapid rise in cases aligns with independent modeling suggesting the outbreak was far more widespread than initial surveillance indicated. A 2026 analysis by Imperial College London estimated that early infections exceeded official counts by a factor of two or more, highlighting the outbreak’s severity amid war, displacement, hunger, and institutional collapse. WHO’s emergency recommendations—such as strengthening case detection, enforcing safe burials, and countering misinformation—face significant challenges on the ground. Violence against health facilities has escalated, including an attack on May 21 in Rwampara, where local youths set fire to an Ebola treatment center after police blocked them from retrieving a body for traditional burial. On May 23, residents in Mongbwalu torched a Doctors Without Borders facility, causing 18 suspected Ebola patients to flee into the community. These incidents underscore the disconnect between WHO’s guidelines and the realities of a conflict-ravaged region. Experts, including Annie Sparrow of the Icahn School of Medicine and Daniel Lucey of Dartmouth, argue that the outbreak reflects broader failures in pandemic preparedness and conflict response. The situation remains critical as trust in health authorities erodes, and the virus spreads in areas with limited access to care.