Ebola Outbreak Over in Uganda, but Cases Continue to Rise in Congo, Says WHO

The number of cases of Ebola in Congo continues to rise, but the outbreak is now over in Uganda, a World Health Organization (WHO) official said on Wednesday.Dr. Marie Roseline Belizaire, director of emergency preparedness for the WHO African region, said at a regional meeting for the organization on Aug. 26 that in Congo, “transmission remains very active.”“We have slowed the acceleration, but we have not yet bent ​this curve,” Belizaire said.Congo’s National Institute of Public Health said in an Aug. 25 statement that there are 5,656 confirmed cases and have been 2,715 deaths as a result of Ebola.The current outbreak is caused by the rare Bundibugyo ebolavirus.Belizaire said this was the third Bundibugyo variant outbreak ever in Africa, following previous outbreaks in Uganda in 2007 and Congo in 2012.“But the scale of this outbreak, now, is unlike anything we have seen for this species, Bundibugyo,” she said. “The two earlier events together caused roughly 200 cases, and the current outbreak, as of Aug. 24, has already surpassed 5,600 cases.”Uganda Outbreak OverMeanwhile, the outbreak of the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola in ​neighboring Uganda is officially over, she said.Belizaire said that Aug. 26 “marked the 42nd day since the last confirmed case was discharged from the treatment center in Uganda.”“That means two full incubation cycles, making sure that no more residual risk of Ebola is in the country, and [marking] the end of the outbreak in Uganda,” she said.The all-clear follows a declaration from the Ugandan government on ​July 28 that it was free ​of the disease, which resulted in 20 cases and caused two ⁠deaths in the country.“The immediate challenge therefore remains the very large and geographically expanding outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo,” she said.Red Cross workers walk in a formation as they disinfect Rwampara general hospital before handling the body of a person who died of Ebola, as aid agencies intensify efforts to contain a new Ebola outbreak involving the Bundibugyo strain, in Rwampara outside Bunia, Congo, on May 21, 2026. Gradel Muyisa Mumbere/ReutersThe outbreak ​in Congo is the second-deadliest in history, and outpacing containment efforts.The outbreak was detected in mid-May in Congo, which has dealt with more than a dozen Ebola outbreaks in the past. It is now the second-deadliest in history, behind only an outbreak that started in 2014 in West Africa and left more than 11,000 dead.The outbreak response has been hampered by multiple factors, including health care workers falling ill and dying, and facilities being attacked by locals, Julien Harneis, the United Nations senior coordinator for Ebola, told reporters on Aug 21.Workers with nongovernmental groups have been trying to help with surveillance for cases, improve patient care, and ensure that the deceased are buried safely.According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, people can contract Ebola if mucous membranes in the eyes, nose, or mouth, or broken skin, come in contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person or contaminated objects.Ebola does not spread in the same way as respiratory viruses such as influenza; a person cannot become infected by being near someone with the disease.Reuters and Zachary Stieber contributed to this report.