The Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in collaboration with regional and international health partners, has activated an emergency delivery roadmap aimed at stopping the transmission of the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus. The plan introduces immediate operational deadlines, clear accountability, and coordinated actions focused on surveillance, treatment, frontline worker protection, and community engagement.
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The roadmap was adopted during a high-level strategic review chaired by Dr. Roger Kamba, the DRC’s Minister of Public Health, Hygiene and Social Welfare, alongside Dr. Jean Kaseya, Director-General of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC). The meeting brought together national and provincial authorities, United Nations agencies, technical experts, financial partners, and organizations supporting the Ebola response.
Officials said the new roadmap shifts the response into a more disciplined operational phase, supported by a centralized performance dashboard that will monitor responsibilities, deadlines, implementation progress, and results across affected provinces.
As of 13 July 2026, the DRC had recorded 2,011 confirmed Ebola cases, 754 deaths, and 366 recoveries. During the latest 24-hour reporting period, health authorities confirmed 54 new cases and 28 additional deaths. The outbreak has spread across 45 health zones in five provinces, with Ituri Province accounting for nearly 90 percent of all confirmed infections. Active transmission also continues in Haut-Uele, North Kivu, and Tshopo, while South Kivu has gone 48 consecutive days without recording a new confirmed case.
Health authorities noted that the country’s response capacity has expanded significantly since the outbreak began. The DRC now has 11 operational laboratories, testing capacity exceeding 2,000 tests per day, and genomic sequencing capabilities in Bunia. In addition, 22 Ebola Treatment Centres and seven transit centres have been established, providing a combined national treatment capacity of more than 700 beds.
The emergency roadmap now focuses on ensuring these resources reach affected communities more rapidly. As of July 13, health teams were monitoring 12,430 identified contacts, although only 67.4 percent had been successfully followed up. Treatment and isolation centres were operating at 87.4 percent occupancy, with facilities in North Kivu approaching critical capacity.
The outbreak has also taken a heavy toll on frontline health personnel. A total of 114 healthcare workers have been infected since the outbreak began, while 36 have died. The new strategy prioritizes strengthening infection prevention and control, increasing treatment capacity, improving contact tracing, ensuring timely payment of response teams, and accelerating the delivery of essential medical supplies.
“The outbreak is moving fast, and we are changing the speed and discipline of the response,” said Dr. Jean Kaseya, Director-General of Africa CDC. He emphasized that the Bunia roadmap places financing, accountability, and clear deadlines behind proven public health measures capable of stopping Ebola transmission.
The roadmap also provides for rapid mobilization of funding, harmonized payment systems for response workers, stronger outbreak governance, enhanced surveillance and investigations, improved contact tracing, expanded treatment facilities, and the continued provision of free essential healthcare services to encourage early treatment seeking.
Preparedness efforts in neighboring provinces and cross-border coordination will also be intensified. Officials said regular national and provincial performance reviews will assess how quickly alerts are investigated, contacts are monitored, patients receive treatment, and healthcare workers remain protected.
Health authorities highlighted Uganda’s progress as evidence that coordinated public health interventions can successfully contain Ebola. Uganda has reported 20 confirmed cases, including 17 recoveries and two deaths, with only one patient currently receiving treatment and no contacts under active monitoring. The country is approaching the conditions required to declare the outbreak over once the mandatory surveillance period is completed.
Under a bilateral Memorandum of Understanding, Uganda continues supporting the DRC by deploying technical teams and sharing expertise in laboratory services, surveillance, case management, outbreak investigations, and community engagement, reinforcing regional cooperation against cross-border health threats.
The DRC Government and Africa CDC have called on development partners and donors to rapidly release pledged funding to sustain response operations in the most affected areas. Communities have also been urged to immediately report anyone displaying Ebola symptoms, notify health authorities of suspected deaths, cooperate with surveillance teams, and support safe and dignified burial practices.
Officials say the outbreak has reached a decisive stage, with the necessary expertise, institutions, and regional partnerships already in place. The Bunia emergency roadmap is intended to ensure these resources operate as one coordinated system capable of interrupting Ebola transmission as quickly as possible.
How to Learn More
For updates on the Ebola response and Africa CDC’s public health activities, visit www.africacdc.org.
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Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC)
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