The Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and response partners have activated an emergency delivery roadmap to break the transmission of the Bundibugyo Ebola virus, placing immediate deadlines and clear operational responsibility behind the measures known to stop Ebola: early detection, complete contact follow-up, rapid access to care, protection of health workers and trusted community engagement.
The roadmap was adopted during a strategic review chaired by Dr Roger Kamba, the DRC’s Minister of Public Health, Hygiene and Social Welfare, in the presence of Dr Jean Kaseya, Director-General of Africa CDC. The review brought together national and provincial authorities, operational leaders, United Nations agencies, technical and financial partners and organisations supporting the response. It moves the response into a tighter phase of execution across affected provinces, supported by a common performance dashboard that will track decisions, responsibilities, deadlines and results.
As of 13 July 2026, the DRC had reported 2,011 confirmed cases, 754 deaths and 366 recoveries. Fifty-four new confirmed cases and 28 deaths were reported during the latest 24-hour reporting period. The outbreak affects 45 health zones across five provinces. Ituri remains the epicentre and accounts for almost 90 per cent of confirmed cases. Transmission remains active, including recent expansion in Haut-Uele and continuing cases in North Kivu and Tshopo. South Kivu has recorded 48 consecutive days without a new confirmed case.
The response is operating with substantially greater capacity than at the start of the outbreak. Eleven laboratories are functioning, national testing capacity exceeds 2,000 tests per day, and sequencing is available in Bunia. Twenty-two Ebola treatment centres and seven transit centres have opened, bringing national capacity to more than 700 beds. Response teams have shortened the average time to detect cases, strengthened alert investigations and launched clinical trials focused on the Bundibugyo virus.
The priority now is to convert this expanded capacity into faster access and more consistent delivery in every affected community. As of 13 July, 12,430 contacts were registered for follow-up, of whom 67.4 per cent had been seen. Treatment and isolation facilities were operating at 87.4 per cent overall occupancy, with critical saturation in North Kivu. A total of 114 health workers had been infected in the DRC, and 36 had died. The new roadmap focuses immediate action on contact follow-up, bed capacity, infection prevention, payment of response teams and delivery of essential supplies.
“The outbreak is moving fast, and we are changing the speed and discipline of the response. The Bunia roadmap puts financing, responsibility and deadlines behind the measures that stop Ebola. Africa has the expertise and operational capacity. Our task now is to make that capacity reach every affected community quickly enough to save lives and break transmission,” said Dr Kaseya.
The roadmap provides for the rapid mobilisation of funding and operational liquidity, harmonised payment arrangements, a stronger Incident Management System and clearer governance of outbreak data. It commits partners to reinforcing surveillance, investigations, and contact follow-up; expanding treatment and transit capacity; strengthening infection prevention and control; and protecting the continuity of essential healthcare services.
Preparedness in exposed provinces and cross-border coordination will also be intensified. The roadmap commits the response to maintaining free access to essential healthcare so that people seek care early and communities remain engaged. Regular national and provincial reviews will assess whether alerts are investigated quickly, contacts are followed up, patients receive care in time, and health workers are protected.
Uganda’s progress demonstrates what rapid, consistent public health action supported by communities can achieve. The country has reported 20 confirmed cases, including 17 recoveries and two deaths. One patient remains in care, and no contacts are currently under active follow-up. Uganda is approaching the conditions required to declare the outbreak over, subject to the completion of the prescribed surveillance period.
Under the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the two countries, Uganda is providing direct support to the DRC through deployed teams and shared expertise in cross-border surveillance, laboratory services, case management, investigations and community engagement. This cooperation is turning regional solidarity into practical capacity on the ground.
The DRC government and Africa CDC call on partners and donors to release pledged resources rapidly and sustain operations in the most affected areas. Communities are urged to immediately report anyone showing symptoms consistent with Ebola, notify health authorities of any suspected deaths, and cooperate with surveillance, treatment and safe and dignified burial teams. Seeking care early improves the chances of survival while helping protect families, health workers, health facilities and communities.
The outbreak has entered a decisive phase. The tools, institutions and regional expertise are in place. The Bunia roadmap is designed to make them work as a single system at the speed required to interrupt transmission.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).Media contacts:
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Africa CDC: communications@africacdc.org
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