Uganda Confirms 3 More Ebola Cases as Congo Neighbors Tighten Covid-Style Border Curbs
Updated
Updated · NBC News · May 24
Uganda Confirms 3 More Ebola Cases as Congo Neighbors Tighten Covid-Style Border Curbs
3 articles · Updated · NBC News · May 24
Uganda reported three new Ebola infections, raising its total to five and sharpening fears that the outbreak in eastern DR Congo is spreading across borders.
The new Ugandan cases include a driver and a health worker linked to the country’s first confirmed patient, while a Congolese woman treated in Uganda also tested positive after returning home.
Rwanda barred entry to foreign nationals who transited through Congo in the past 30 days and ordered quarantine for returning residents, while Uganda suspended mass cultural events near the border and halted public transport links with Congo for four weeks.
Zambia and Malawi also moved to high alert with fever screening, community surveillance and health-worker training, as officials warned porous borders and Ebola’s roughly 21-day incubation period could let exposed people cross undetected.
The WHO has logged 750 cases and 177 deaths in Congo’s 17th Ebola outbreak, where insecurity, limited diagnostics and an attack on a treatment site that led 18 suspected patients to flee are complicating containment.
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Bundibugyo Ebola Outbreak 2026: Over 300 Suspected Cases, International Spread, and Urgent Gaps in Global Health Response
Overview
The Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak, declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern by the WHO in May 2026, is rapidly spreading across the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda. Its extraordinary nature and significant public health risk have prompted urgent international coordination to track the outbreak, strengthen surveillance, and implement control measures. With confirmed and suspected cases rising in multiple provinces and unusual clusters of deaths reported, the situation highlights the need for global cooperation and swift action to contain the virus and protect vulnerable communities.