Ebola Bundibugyo, the Democratic Republic of Congo has reported 6,942 confirmed cases and 3,349 deaths

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) reported on September 10, 2026, based on data updated to September 9 and transmitted by the Ministry of Health of the Democratic Republic of Congo, 6,942 confirmed cases of Bundibugyo virus disease and 3,349 related deaths. The same survey shows 823 patients hospitalised in isolation.

These figures describe an epidemic still underway, not a final tally. On September 10, local press and politicians reported a new confirmed case in the province of South Ubangi: information which, in the form currently available, remains a local report and not an official notification confirmed by international health bodies. The distinction is significant because the appearance of a case in a new province changes the geographical scope of the response.

The Ugandan front closed, the Congolese one not

In Uganda, 20 cases were notified between May and June 2026, and on August 25 the World Health Organization declared the outbreak over after 42 days without new confirmed cases. That period is not arbitrary: it corresponds to twice the maximum incubation time considered for this type of virus, and it is the standard criterion used to declare the end of a filovirus disease outbreak.

The contrast between the two countries is the most legible piece of data in the situation: 20 cases contained in Uganda, nearly seven thousand confirmed in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The difference in scale reflects the size of the clusters, the density and accessibility of the affected areas, and tracing capacity — elements that the available sources do not quantify and which we therefore do not attribute.

Cases exported outside Africa

During 2026, imported cases were recorded in Germany, with the medical evacuation of a U.S. citizen; in France, on June 24; and a case positive for the Bundibugyo virus in a U.S. humanitarian worker present in the Democratic Republic of Congo, reported by the CDC on July 10. These are isolated episodes, documented by health authorities, which explain why a Central African epidemic appears in European bulletins.

The state of the tools

For the Bundibugyo virus there is no vaccine or specific treatment approved. Sources indicate that trials are underway on candidates considered promising: these are trials, not available tools, and the material does not indicate their phase, sample size or results. This newspaper draws no practical indication from that information and cannot draw one: the only thing that can be written with precision is that today the health response rests on isolation, tracing and supportive care.

What we do not know

We do not know the weekly trend of new cases, and therefore cannot say whether the curve is rising or falling: the available figures are cumulative. We do not know how many provinces are affected beyond the report from South Ubangi. We have no data on surveillance coverage or on the fatality rate calculated by the relevant bodies, and we do not derive it by dividing deaths by cases: that would be an operation of our own, not a published figure. No formal classification of the event by international bodies appears in the available material, and for this reason we do not write about it.

The ECDC has indicated September 14, 2026 as the date of the next epidemiological update: the figures reported here remain those as of September 9 until that update is available.

Sources: ECDC (based on data from the DRC Ministry of Health); World Health Organization.