Second U.S. Citizen Tests Positive for Bundibugyo Ebola in DRC and Is Medically Evacuated to Germany

What the report says

Medical Daily reports that a second U.S. citizen working as a humanitarian worker in the Democratic Republic of the Congo tested positive for Bundibugyo virus, a form of Ebola disease, on July 10, 2026. Citing confirmation from the CDC and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, the article says the patient was medically evacuated on July 13 to a university hospital in Frankfurt, Germany, and was in stable condition.

The case comes during a major outbreak that DRC health authorities first declared in Mongbwalu Health Zone, Ituri Province, in mid-May. Medical Daily, citing official DRC figures reported to the WHO, says the outbreak had reached about 1,926 confirmed cases and 702 deaths by July 13, making it one of the largest Ebola epidemics recorded. The article says the WHO declared the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on May 17 and has warned that case counts may be significantly understated because of conflict, limited testing access and weakened health services.

Medical Daily says no Bundibugyo cases have been confirmed inside the United States, and the CDC assesses the risk to the U.S. public as low. The virus is not described as airborne; the highest risk is for people with direct contact with sick patients, bodies or infectious fluids, including health workers, family caregivers, funeral workers, laboratory staff and aid personnel in affected areas.

The report says the outbreak has affected multiple northeastern DRC provinces, with travel-linked cases also noted outside DRC. It adds that there is no licensed vaccine or specific approved treatment for Bundibugyo virus disease, so response efforts rely on supportive care, infection control, case detection, contact tracing and safe burial practices.