Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak DRC 837 cases 196 deaths crosses into Uganda WHO emergency
An Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo has crossed into Uganda and is now a declared global health emergency. The DRC has logged 837 confirmed cases and 196 deaths, per WHO and its health ministry. The strain is Bundibugyo virus, and responders report burial teams being attacked.
An Ebola outbreak in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo has spread across the border into Uganda and now carries the World Health Organization's highest level of alarm, a public health emergency of international concern. As of mid-June, the DRC health ministry has confirmed 837 cases and 196 deaths, with 376 people hospitalised in isolation, according to WHO situation reports and the country's own figures. The eastern province of Ituri is the epicentre, accounting for 767 confirmed cases across 20 health zones. North Kivu has recorded 67 cases and South Kivu three. In Uganda, where the outbreak arrived through cross-border travel, 19 cases and two deaths have been confirmed. The strain behind this outbreak is Bundibugyo virus, one of the less common species of Ebola, named for the Ugandan district where it was first identified in 2007. Health authorities are running clinical work that includes the treatments MBP134 and REGN3479, alongside obeldesivir for protecting people who have been exposed. The response is unfolding under difficult conditions. WHO reports that a safe and dignified burial team was attacked in the Mongbwalu health zone of Ituri, and that several workers at entry and screening points were briefly taken hostage after being falsely accused of spreading the disease. Mistrust and violence against responders have historically allowed Ebola to keep moving through communities, because contact tracing and safe burials depend on cooperation that fear erodes. The figures here come directly from WHO and national health authorities; no projections or estimates have been added.