Ebola emergency in DR Congo and Uganda continues to expand

The Democratic Republic of the Congo has reported hundreds of confirmed Ebola cases and dozens of deaths, while Uganda has confirmed a smaller number of cases linked to the same regional emergency, according to CDC and ECDC updates dated June 1.

The CDC said the DRC and Uganda ministries of health reported 321 confirmed cases and 48 confirmed deaths in DRC, with 116 suspected cases, and 11 confirmed cases and one confirmed death in Uganda. The CDC also listed one probable case and one probable death in Uganda.

The ECDC update, also dated June 1, gave lower DRC figures from a May 31 DRC Ministry of Health publication: 282 confirmed cases, 42 confirmed deaths and 220 suspected cases under investigation. It said Uganda had reported nine confirmed cases, including one death, with at least three cases linked to travel from DRC.

The difference between the CDC and ECDC figures shows a fast-moving outbreak in which case counts are still being reviewed and harmonised as laboratory confirmation continues. Both sources verify that the outbreak is affecting DRC and Uganda, with data still changing.

ECDC said the outbreak is caused by Bundibugyo virus. Ituri is the most affected DRC province in the ECDC figures, with 264 confirmed cases from 14 health zones, while North Kivu had 15 confirmed cases and South Kivu had three.

The CDC said cases related to the DRC outbreak have also been reported in Uganda’s capital, Kampala. It said no cases associated with this outbreak had been reported in the United States, and assessed the risk to the American public and travellers as low.

U.S. agencies have already changed travel controls. The CDC said that on May 18, CDC and DHS announced enhanced travel screening, entry restrictions and public-health measures, including rerouting affected air passengers from DRC, South Sudan and Uganda to arrive at Washington-Dulles International Airport, Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport and other designated entry points named in the full CDC guidance.

The World Bank Group said it is mobilising financing and technical support for frontline response, health-system reinforcement, surveillance and cross-border preparedness. It described support for health workers, laboratory capacity, referral pathways, supply chains, community engagement teams and neighbouring countries at risk of spread.

The same World Bank factsheet said it is following up with private-sector clients on the outbreak’s effect on routine healthcare, products and the capacity to scale up high-demand supplies such as personal protective equipment, diagnostics and other response materials.

The supplied evidence does not verify vaccination coverage, treatment-centre capacity, full transmission chains, local security conditions, or detailed community-level access barriers. It verifies an expanding outbreak across DRC and Uganda, uneven but serious case counts, international travel measures and financing efforts aimed at containment.

The cleanest supported conclusion is that Ebola containment is now a cross-border health-system test, not only a clinic-level emergency. The response depends on fast case detection, safe care, laboratory confirmation, transport controls, supply chains and public cooperation across areas where people, goods and risk can move faster than official counts settle.