2026 DRC Bundibugyo virus outbreak

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The Democratic Republic of the Congo's 17th Ebola outbreak since 1976 and the first confirmed Bundibugyo ebolavirus (BDBV) emergence since the 2012 Isiro cluster. First signalled from Mongbwalu Health Zone in Ituri Province at the end of April 2026 and confirmed by INRB genomic sequencing on 14 May, it became a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on 17 May and has since become the second-largest Ebola outbreak on record, exceeded only by the 2013–2016 West Africa epidemic. It has spread across six of the DRC's 26 provinces — Ituri, North Kivu, Haut-Uélé, Tshopo, South Kivu and Bas-Uélé — with exported cases in Uganda, France and Germany. There is no licensed vaccine and no specific therapeutic for Bundibugyo virus, and overt bleeding has appeared in only about 10% of cases, delaying isolation. The outbreak remains active.