Ebola Kills 7 Hospital Workers in DRC Epicenter as 5-Year-Old Bleeds in Bare Ward
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · May 30
Ebola Kills 7 Hospital Workers in DRC Epicenter as 5-Year-Old Bleeds in Bare Ward
4 articles · Updated · The New York Times · May 30
Seven hospital workers in Mongbwalu have already died from suspected Ebola, and patients in the outbreak’s epicenter are being treated in a cramped ward with almost no protection.
Tests, protective suits, goggles, masks and even drinking water are in critically short supply, while many staff members have never been trained to handle Ebola.
Relatives move in and out carrying food and water because the hospital cannot provide them, increasing exposure around highly contagious patients and bodies that remain in the ward for hours.
Doctors Without Borders workers were erecting isolation tents and disinfection stations outside, underscoring how emergency aid is still scrambling to catch up with the outbreak.
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2026 Bundibugyo Ebola Crisis: Over 220 Deaths, Regional Spread, and the Race for a Vaccine in DRC and Uganda
Overview
On May 15, 2026, the Democratic Republic of the Congo declared an Ebola outbreak in Ituri Province, with Uganda confirming its own outbreak the same day. The crisis is driven by the Bundibugyo virus, confirmed in multiple samples by national laboratories. By May 16, there were 246 suspected cases and 80 deaths in the DRC, and by May 25, the World Health Organization reported 220 suspected deaths, showing the disease’s rapid and severe progression. The outbreak’s swift escalation highlights the urgent challenges faced by health responders in containing this deadly virus.