Two men arrived at hospitals in Kampala within 24 hours of each other. Both had recently travelled from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. One of them did not survive.
These two cases, confirmed on May 15 and May 16, prompted the World Health Organization to declare the highest alert. On May 17, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced that the Ebola outbreak had become a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, the same serious designation once used for COVID-19 and the 2014 West Africa Ebola crisis.
The alarm centres on this virus's name. This is not the Zaire strain that doctors have studied for two decades. This is Bundibugyo, a rare cousin first found in western Uganda in 2007. The WHO reports it has caused only three documented outbreaks in human history. The medical world has few weapons against it: there are no licensed vaccines and no approved treatments specifically for Bundibugyo. Existing vaccines cannot help here.
The outbreak has struck Ituri Province in northeastern DR Congo, bordering Uganda and South Sudan. By May 16, the WHO reported 8 confirmed cases, 246 suspected cases and 80 suspected deaths. Among the dead are at least four healthcare workers. The Bundibugyo strain has a case fatality rate of roughly 50%, making it extremely dangerous.
DR Congo has experienced 17 Ebola outbreaks since the virus was first identified in 1976. However, the country lacks specific tools to fight this rare strain. The virus has already crossed the porous border with Uganda, reaching Kampala, a city of millions. The WHO is airlifting medical supplies and deploying experts, but the central challenge remains: the world knows very little about this virus.