How the deadliest Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak can be stopped

What the report says

A group of senior public health leaders, including WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Africa CDC Director-General Jean Kaseya and Mohamed Yakub Janabi, used an Al Jazeera opinion article to argue for a stronger, better-funded response to the Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Published on 23 August 2026, the piece says the outbreak has become the country’s 17th Ebola episode and, by the authors’ account, one of the largest and fastest-moving on record.

The article describes the epicentre of the response in eastern DRC, especially areas such as Bunia and Ituri province, while also noting spread across multiple health zones and provinces. It says national authorities, WHO, Africa CDC and partners have expanded surveillance, laboratories, treatment centres, infection-prevention efforts and burial teams. The authors also point to Uganda as an example of interrupted local transmission, and say some areas in northern Ituri and South Kivu have also seen transmission broken.

The core message is that the outbreak can still be stopped if responders reach every affected area, protect health workers and move funding and supplies faster. The authors say frontline staff face major risks in insecure and hard-to-reach areas, and that health facilities need more protective equipment, trained staff and reliable sanitation. They also stress that communities must be involved in tracing contacts, countering rumours and guiding care-seeking.

More broadly, the article argues that donor support, cross-border coordination and direct backing for local groups are essential. It warns against fragmented funding and blanket travel restrictions, saying coordinated surveillance and rapid information-sharing are more effective. The piece is an advocacy call rather than a straight news report, but it highlights the scale of the outbreak and the operational challenges shaping the response.