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June 5, 2026

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What is Ebola and why is stopping the latest outbreak so difficult?

1 hour agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleJames Gallagher,Health and science correspondent,Emery Makumeno,BBC Africa, Kinshasa,Hafsa KhalilandFarouk Chothia

Getty Images A person in PPE and full head covering is having their goggles adjusted by someone, with blue protective gloves, out-of-focus in the foreground. The green scrubs and hair covering of that person can be seen on the right of the picture.

An Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has been declared a public health emergency of international concern, by the World Health Organization (WHO).

The latest outbreak is challenging because it involves a rare species of Ebola for which there is no vaccine, and the epicentre is in an area affected by conflict.

What is Ebola and what are the symptoms?

Ebola is a rare but deadly disease caused by a virus.

Ebola viruses normally infect animals, typically fruit bats, but outbreaks among humans can sometimes start when people eat or handle infected animals.

It takes two to 21 days for symptoms to appear. They come on suddenly and start like the flu or malaria, with fever, headache and tiredness.

As the disease progresses, vomiting and diarrhoea develop and it can lead to organ failure. Some, but not all, patients develop internal and external bleeding.

The virus spreads from one person to another by contact with infected bodily fluids such as blood or vomit.

Ebola outbreaks used to be small and contained to remote rural areas. However, urbanisation is pushing larger populations closer to these natural reservoirs of Ebola and increasing the risk of transmission.

Graphic showing how Ebola attacks the human body, sourced to the WHO and Cleveland Clinic. Graphic showing how Ebola systematically attacks the human body. It explains that symptoms appear two to 21 days after contact and can worsen over time. Earlier symptoms, shown with purple circles around diagrams, include headache, fatigue, sore throat, fever, muscle pain, red or bloodshot eyes, and abdominal pain. Later symptoms, shown with red circles, include diarrhoea, vomiting, rash, internal and external bleeding (less common), and impaired kidney and liver function.

Why is this Ebola outbreak different and is there a vaccine?

This outbreak is caused by the rare Bundibugyo species of Ebola, which had not been seen for over a decade.

Named after a district in Uganda where it was first detected, Bundibugyo has only caused two previous outbreaks – in 2007 and 2012.

One study showed that it killed about a third of those infected, far less than the more common Zaire (66.6%) and Sudan (48.5%) species.

Bubble chart titled “Rare virus species behind latest Ebola outbreak,” where circle size represents confirmed cases. A very large purple circle shows the 2014–16 West African epidemic with 28,715 cases, far exceeding others, alongside a smaller 2018–20 outbreak with 3,470 cases. Smaller clusters represent Zaire, Sudan, and Bundibugyo virus outbreaks; Sudan shows moderate case circles, while Bundibugyo includes a highlighted 2026 outbreak with dozens of confirmed cases and hundreds more suspected cases. A note states Ebola was first detected in 1976 and that case numbers may be underestimates. Source: CDC, WHO.

Initial blood tests for Ebola in the affected areas were negative as they were designed to identify the more common species of the disease.

There is no approved vaccine for Bundibugyo, but experimental ones are in development. It is possible that a vaccine for the Zaire species may offer some protection.

There are also no drugs that target Bundibugyo, making it harder to treat. The WHO has recommended the evaluation – under strict protocols – of the experimental anti-viral drug obeldesivir, developed during Covid, to see if it is effective in stopping those who have been in contact with Ebola patients from getting sick.

A further complication is that the outbreak is taking place in a conflict zone, with a quarter of million people displaced from their homes and people moving across porous borders into neighbouring countries.

Trish Newport, from medical charity Doctors Without Borders, who is heavily involved in efforts to tackle the outbreak, told the BBC World Service that territory constantly changed hands between different armed groups, making it difficult for emergency response teams to simply drive to Ebola hot-spots.

She pointed out that a further problem was bad roads, with a 90km (56-mile) journey from Bunia city to Mongbwalu, one of two gold-mining towns where the majority of cases have been reported, taking more than three hours.

However, the WHO’s declaration of a public health emergency of international concern does not mean we are in the early stages of a Covid-style pandemic. The risk Ebola poses outside Central and East Africa is minimal.

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How worrying is the Ebola outbreak in DR Congo?

How did the current Ebola outbreak start?

The first known case was a nurse who developed symptoms on 24 April, which means the virus had been spreading undetected for weeks.

The nurse died in Bunia, the capital of eastern DR Congo’s Ituri province, according to Congolese Health Minister Samuel Roger Kamba.

The victim’s body was repatriated to Mongbwalu.

Kamba said one of the reasons the virus spread so quickly was the number of people exposed to the body during the funeral ceremony.

Africa’s public health agency, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), told the BBC World Service that funerals were a particular concern, as they also helped spread the disease during previous outbreaks.

Africa CDC director Dr Jean Kaseya said public health information campaigns were “providing information on how to handle funerals” and the importance of basic hygiene and sanitation, as well as providing protection measures for health workers.

Kamba said there had been delays in reporting Ebola cases because infected communities believed the disease to be “witchcraft” or a “mystical illness”, resulting in people seeking treatment from prayer centres and witchdoctors rather than hospitals.

How many Ebola cases have been reported and where are they?

Map titled “Ebola outbreak in DR Congo and Uganda,” showing locations of reported cases in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and parts of Uganda. Areas with cases are highlighted in red.
In DR Congo, the main cluster is in Ituri Province
Major geographic features include Lake Albert on the border and Lake Victoria in southern Uganda. Surrounding countries, including Rwanda and Tanzania, are also labelled.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he was “deeply concerned about the scale and speed of the epidemic”.

On 4 June, Africa CDC said there had been 381 confirmed cases and 62 confirmed deaths from the virus in DR Congo. These figures are lower than those mentioned in earlier reports as they had reflected suspected cases, many of whom later tested negative. The death toll includes five health workers who the Congolese health ministry has described as “courageous”.

Six people have also recovered from Ebola so far, including four nurses whose discharge from hospital was celebrated at a special ceremony.

Ituri province is the epicentre of this outbreak.

Officials in neighbouring Uganda have so far confirmed one death from Ebola – an individual who travelled to the capital city, Kampala, from DR Congo. The authorities there have also confirmed 16 cases with two people discharged from hospital.

Why does Ebola keep on occurring in DR Congo?

American doctor Peter Stafford tested positive after treating patients at Nyankunde Hospital in Bunia, where he has worked since 2023.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said he had been evacuated to Germany for treatment.

Cases have also been confirmed in North Kivu (19) and South Kivu (3), provinces partly controlled by the rebel AFC-M23 alliance. These discoveries signalled the outbreak’s spread from its epicentre in Ituri.

What is being done in DR Congo to tackle the current Ebola outbreak?

The WHO and Congolese health authorities are urging residents to follow preventative measures to help limit the spread of Ebola

Getty Images A young girl washes her hands at a checkpoint for hand washing and temperature screening for all visitors and patients entering Kyeshero Hospital in Goma, DRC on 18 May 2026. Also pictured is a member of medical staff who wears a gown, gloves and face mask, along with another visitor who also wears a face mask. — The WHO and Congolese health authorities are urging residents to follow preventative measures to help limit the spread of Ebola

The Congolese government has established a laboratory in Mongbwalu, one of the centres of the outbreak in Ituri, which can test blood samples for the Bundibugyo species of Ebola. Results can now be delivered within 24 hours, removing earlier delays.

Surveillance systems, contact tracing and the treatment infrastructure, with dedicated centres in several affected towns, have also been expanded, according to the health minister.

The WHO has dedicated $3.9m (£2.9m) to tackling the outbreak, while Africa CDC has announced a $319m budget. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has pledged an initial $5m to support the agency’s plan.

A toll-free number, 151, has been provided for reporting symptoms and people are being reminded to:

avoid contact with bodies of people who died with symptoms, or with dead animals
not eat raw meat, as undercooked food may transmit the virus
practise social distancing.

How have the rebels responded to the latest Ebola outbreak?

The AFC-M23 group says it is creating an Ebola response team to prevent the spread of the disease in the areas it controls.

On 17 May, spokesman Lawrence Kanyuka said the group had “immediately activated” response mechanisms in conjunction with health services and local medical facilities.

Neither the government nor the rebels have explicitly said whether they are prepared to work together to tackle the outbreak.

However, a case in Goma, North Kivu’s provincial capital, was confirmed by a state-run body, the INRB.

Caitlin Brady, the country director for the Danish Refugee Council, was in Goma to prepare her organisation’s response. She said she had been informed by the rebels that they were using contact tracing and all appropriate measures to contain the virus.

She told the BBC World Service’s Newsday programme that “a lot of the health officials and healthcare workers stayed and continued working” after rebels seized the city, meaning “the capacity to respond has remained”.

What’s the fighting in DR Congo all about?

Trump’s ‘historic’ peace deal for DR Congo shattered after rebels seize key city

What are Rwanda and other neighbouring countries doing about the Ebola outbreak?

Rwanda has closed its borders with DR Congo, while Uganda has temporarily suspended flights, buses and all other public transport crossing the border with DR Congo.

Authorities in Uganda have told people to avoid hugging and shaking hands.

President Yoweri Museveni also postponed the Martyrs’ Day pilgrimage, a Christian holiday held on 3 June each year, which usually draws thousands of Congolese nationals to join festivities.

Several other African countries are tightening border screenings and bolstering health facilities.

Africa CDC has warned that other countries on the continent – namely Angola, Burundi, the Central African Republic, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Zambia – are at risk from an outbreak.