WHO declares Ebola outbreak in Congo a global emergency
20 May 2026
By William Ysaguirre (Freelance Writer)
BELIZE CITY, Mon. May 18, 2026
At least 88 people have died, and more than 300 persons are believed to be infected by an Ebola disease outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), with 2 suspected cases appearing in Uganda and Nigeria, prompting the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare the outbreak a global health emergency on Sunday, May 17.
It appears to be caused by the Bundibugyo virus, one of several strains of the Ebola virus, for which the symptoms are viral hemorrhagic fever, and life-threatening internal bleeding. The first case is believed to have been a health-care worker in Ituri province in east Congo, who reported fever, vomiting and bleeding on April 24, and later died.
The United States announced new travel restrictions on visitors from Uganda, South Sudan and the DRC on Monday, May 18. The ban doesn’t apply to U.S. citizens or permanent residents, but will remain in effect for a month. At least 6 Americans are known to have been exposed to the virus in the Congo, one of whom developed symptoms and was evacuated to Germany, U.S. officials reported.
WHO said the outbreak is not a pandemic emergency like COVID-19, and advised against closing international borders.
The Bundibugyo virus is similar to, but not the same as the Zaire strain which caused the 2013–2016 Ebola epidemic in West Africa that killed at least 11,325 people. The U.S. Center for Disease Control reports that the Bundibugyo mortality rate ranges from 25 – 50 percent, and there is no treatment or vaccine for the disease. The first outbreak of the Bundibugyo virus infected 149 people, and 37 persons died in 2007-2008 in Uganda; and 57 persons were infected, of which 29 died during an outbreak in Isiro, Congo, in 2012.
The WHO has confirmed a case in Congo’s capital, Kinshasa, which is about 1,000 kilometers from the outbreak’s epicenter in the eastern province of Ituri, suggesting a possible wider spread. The WHO Regional Office for Africa, in a separate statement on X on Sunday, said that a team of 35 experts from the WHO and the Congolese Ministry of Health had arrived in Bunia, the capital of Ituri province, along with 7 tons of emergency medical supplies and equipment.
