Ebola outbreak hits 894 cases, 204 deaths in first month as contact tracing lags

The Ebola outbreak in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo has reached 894 confirmed cases and 204 deaths, with 74 recoveries recorded in the first month since it was declared on May 15, 2026.

Dr Wessam Mankoula, Acting Head of Emergency Preparedness and Response at Africa CDC and Regional Director of the Northern Africa Regional Coordinating Centre, gave the update Thursday during a webinar.

—DRC driving the surge, North Kivu worst hit—
Uganda’s situation remains contained with 19 cases, 2 deaths, a 10.5% case fatality rate, 7 recoveries and 100% contact listing, all confined to one health zone in Kampala.

The DRC is driving the outbreak. Ituri Province is the epicenter with 91 confirmed cases and 78% of all deaths recorded in the country.

“North Kivu is the most worrisome area due to insecurity limiting responder access, resulting in a high case fatality rate and the lowest contact tracing coverage among the three affected provinces,” Mankoula said.

The outbreak has spread rapidly, now affecting 32 health zones across DRC and Uganda. That’s up from 3 health zones in week 1, to 11 on May 22, 14 in week 3, and 32 by week 4.

“This ranks as the third-largest Ebola outbreak by total cases and deaths so far, behind only West Africa 2014 and the 2018–2019 DRC outbreak,” he said.

—Contact tracing and burial capacity critically low—

Cases increased 38% from last week, but spread remains within the same three provinces where it began.

Contact tracing remains the biggest gap. For over 800 confirmed cases, 17,000 to 35,000 contacts should be listed and monitored daily. Only 6,000 are listed — about 20% of the expected number. Of those, just 4,000 are actively followed, less than 15% of what’s needed to detect new cases early.

“Without licensed vaccines or therapeutics for the Sudan strain, controlling the outbreak depends entirely on case identification, contact listing, and daily monitoring by community health workers,” Mankoula said.

Safe and dignified burial capacity is also strained. Only 7 of 49 required teams are deployed, 7 of 98 needed vehicles are available, and 84 of 540 required personnel are on the ground.

—Continental response plan launched—

Africa CDC declared a public health emergency of continental security on May 18, three days after confirmation. The Director-General visited DRC and Kampala, and a Kampala Summit on May 22-23 brought health ministers from DRC, Uganda and high-risk neighbours like South Sudan together for a joint action plan.

High-level engagement continued with visits June 12 from the EU Commissioner for Crisis Management and the WHO Director General. DRC–Uganda cross-border meetings followed June 13-14. On June 16, the African Union Commission and Africa CDC convened heads of state chaired by the AU Chairperson, President of Burundi, to align political support.

Africa CDC and WHO launched a unified continental response plan built around 11 pillars with a six-month budget of $517 million for affected countries, at-risk neighbours and partner coordination.

—Testing, treatment and logistics scaled up—

Testing improved sharply. Initial backlogs of 5-8 days are gone, with results now processed within 24 hours. 21,000 tests have been delivered to DRC, Uganda, South Sudan and Burundi, with 27,000 more in the pipeline.

Treatment capacity is nearing its limit. Nine Ebola treatment centres in DRC have 433 beds at 86% occupancy, and nine more centres are under construction.

Infection prevention and control assessments covered 43 facilities in DRC and 108 in Uganda, with 42 sites supported for decontamination. Over 60 metric tons of IPC commodities and medical supplies have been delivered to DRC and Uganda, with support from India and Egypt, plus Starlink equipment for connectivity at points of entry.

A regional logistics hub was launched in MTB to manage Ebola supply chains. Exit and entry screening is now implemented, with about 90% of travellers exiting DRC screened to reduce cross-border spread without broad movement restrictions.

—Funding gap remains—

“Funding remains a gap: AU heads of state summits secured $910 million in pledges, including $80 million from AU member states, but less than $90 million has been released so far to affected countries and partners,” Mankoula said.

He listed key challenges ahead: no licensed medical countermeasures for the Sudan strain, ongoing insecurity blocking access especially in North Kivu, healthcare worker protection needs, and the urgent need to scale contact tracing from less than 15% to the 95% target to bring the outbreak under control.