Ebola disease caused by Bundibugyo virus – Democratic Republic of the Congo was recorded by Global Incident Tracker on Friday, 22 May 2026 at 21:06 UTC. The event is classified as a epidemic incident with a severity rating of Severe, and was detected through the World Health Organization (WHO).
On 15 May 2026, the Ministry of Public Health, Hygiene and Social Welfare, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and the Ministry of Health of Uganda declared an outbreak of Ebola Disease following the confirmation of Bundibugyo virus disease (BVD) in both countries. On 17 May 2026, the World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General determined that the Ebola disease caused by Bundibugyo virus in DRC and Uganda constitutes a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC), as defined in the provisions of IHR. On 19 May 2026, the Director-General of WHO convened the first meeting of the IHR Emergency Committee, and temporary recommendations were issued to State Parties. As of 21 May, 746 suspected cases and 176 deaths among suspected cases were reported in DRC. So far 85 confirmed cases, including two in Uganda, and ten deaths, with one in Uganda, among confirmed cases were
Where this happened
The incident is located in Republic of the Congo (Africa), whose capital is Brazzaville. Historically, Republic of the Congo is most affected by floods and epidemics. You can follow every incident recorded in this country, updated live, on the Republic of the Congo incident tracker.
Approximate coordinates of the reported event are -0.200°, 15.800°. The marker on the map above shows this position; for news-derived reports the location reflects the place named in media coverage and may represent a district or city rather than an exact site.
Understanding epidemic events
Disease outbreaks including cholera, dengue, measles, Ebola and influenza. Outbreak trajectories depend on transmission route, population immunity and the speed of detection. Early case-finding, clean water and vaccination coverage change outcomes far more than late-stage restrictions.
How severity is rated
Global Incident Tracker rates every event on a four-step scale — Minor, Moderate, Severe and Extreme — derived from the source signal: earthquake magnitude, official GDACS alert colour, or the volume of independent media reporting for news-derived incidents. This event is currently rated Severe. Ratings can change as more information becomes available, and a rating is a monitoring signal rather than an official government assessment.
Safety guidance for epidemic situations
- Follow official case definitions and testing guidance rather than social-media claims.
- Prioritise clean water, hand hygiene and safe food handling during any outbreak.
- Keep routine vaccinations up to date; they carry most of the protective effect.
- Seek care early if you belong to a high-risk group.
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Data and verification
This record was generated automatically from the World Health Organization (WHO) and de-duplicated against our archive. Early reports for any incident can be revised: locations get refined, magnitudes are recalculated and impact figures change as assessments arrive. We deliberately do not publish casualty numbers unless an official source states them. The original source report is linked at the top of this page.
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Timeline and sources
Officially recorded
An official record exists from World Health Organization. That confirms the event was recorded; figures quoted from news reports are not confirmed by it.
How statuses are decided · the number of reports is never treated as confirmation.
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· received · event time 22 May 2026, 21:06 UTCFirst report Humanitarian agency report
First recorded from World Health Organization.
Times are when this site received each report, in UTC; the event time is shown where the source gave one. Copies of one syndicated story count as one report.
Conditions at the time
Light rain of 1.2 mm was recorded, and the temperature peaked at 32°C.
Weather reanalysis for this location and date via Open-Meteo.