- The Democratic Republic of Congo is facing a new Ebola outbreak caused by the Bundibugyo strain, for which there is currently no approved vaccine or treatment.
- More than 1,000 suspected cases and more than 238 suspected deaths have already been recorded in the DRC, while the disease has also spread into neighboring Uganda.
- Armed groups, population displacement and intense mobility around gold mining areas are accelerating transmission risks, says Dr. Macky Mbavugha of the International Rescue Committee (IRC).
- Mongabay spoke to Dr. Mbavugha about why it took so long for authorities to identify the rarer Ebola strain, and how USAID funding cuts have severely weakened disease surveillance, community outreach and emergency response capacity.
On May 28, 2026, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the World Health Organization, sent an open letter to the people of the Democratic Republic of Congo before traveling to the country for a field visit: “I am writing because I want to be with you in these moments. And I want you to know that you are not alone,” he wrote, before recalling his involvement during the deadly Ebola outbreak that struck the northeastern DRC between 2018 and 2020.
Since May 15, the country has been facing a new outbreak, this time caused by the Bundibugyo variant, a strain of the disease for which there is currently neither treatment nor vaccine. Since the outbreak was declared, the death toll has continued to rise. According to the latest figures, DRC authorities recorded 121 confirmed cases with 17 confirmed deaths, as well as more than 1,077 suspected cases and 238 suspected deaths.
The hemorrhagic fever first emerged in Ituri province, on the border with Uganda, before spreading to North Kivu province and to Uganda. That prompted Uganda to close its border with the DRC. While Ituri remains the worst-hit province, the risk of regional spread is high. On May 23, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) identified 10 other African countries at risk from this Ebola outbreak: Angola, Burundi, the Central African Republic, the Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Zambia.
As a result, the international response is intensifying. Dr. Macky Mbavugha is a doctor and field manager for the International Rescue Committee (IRC), a humanitarian aid organization, in Ituri and Beni, in North Kivu. He coordinates the NGO’s response efforts amid drastic budget cuts affecting the humanitarian sector since the U.S. slashed foreign aid funding in 2025. As the present medical crisis unfolds, Dr. Mbavugha spoke to Mongabay from Rwampara in the DRC.
Mongabay: During a press conference, a WHO official suggested that although the Ebola outbreak was officially declared on May 15, the virus was already circulating in the population for several weeks before that. Why do you think it took so long for the outbreak to be declared?
Dr. Macky Mbavugha: We still do not know the origin of the disease. At first, the population perceived it as something mystical. Ebola is always surrounded by rumors, and initially information circulated from one person to another by word of mouth. Unfortunately, the Ministry of Health was not reactive enough. We heard that people were dying, so eventually samples were collected. They were tested for the Zaire strain of Ebola, and because the results came back negative, attention shifted elsewhere.
Time passed like that. But since people kept dying, samples were eventually sent to a laboratory in Kinshasa, nearly 2,000 kilometers [1,240 miles] away, which took time. The Bundibugyo strain was finally identified. By the time the outbreak was officially declared, suspected and even confirmed cases had already spread throughout the region.
Mongabay: What is the situation in Ituri province, where the outbreak emerged, and what are the main challenges?
Dr. Macky Mbavugha: The epicenter of this 17th Ebola outbreak [in the DRC] is the rural commune of Mongwalu, almost 80 kilometers [50 mi] from Bunia, the capital of Ituri province. It is a mining area rich in gold. People come from all provinces and even neighboring countries to trade and search for gold. That is what complicates this outbreak: people are highly mobile. Everyone who started feeling sick returned home, and that is how the disease spread from Mongwalu.
Armed groups are also organized around communities. We have rival communities in Ituri fighting to control mining zones because there are economic interests behind them. There are [armed groups like] the CRP [Convention for the Popular Revolution], the CODECO [Cooperative for the Development of the Congo] … everyone is looking for places where they can exploit gold and gain economic interests, and weapons are circulating everywhere.
Mongabay: In a press release published on May 19, IRC stated that “funding cuts led IRC to reduce programming from five to two areas of Ituri.” What impact did that have on the response?
Dr. Macky Mbavugha: In Mongwalu and Rwampara, the two epicenters of the outbreak, there were no partners on the ground, neither health nor military actors, able to inform us about what was happening locally. I think MSF [Doctors Without Borders] had staff in Mbolowa, but that was all. Before 2025, we had fundings for disease surveillance, construction and rehabilitation of water systems, and infection prevention. However, much of this funding ended in March 2025. At IRC, we lost around 40-45% of our overall budget. That represents roughly $15 million, and it is extremely difficult. If USAID funding had still existed, community-based surveillance systems would have remained operational and we would have known about the outbreak much earlier.
Mongabay: Without the budget cuts, what would have changed?
Dr. Macky Mbavugha: Communities in this part of Ituri have very limited means of survival. Often, when people get sick, they rely on self-medication or traditional healers. All of that delayed both treatment and detection of the disease. When we still had funding, free health care services were available to the population. Communities used them more easily, and perhaps those infected at the beginning of the outbreak would have sought medical care, triggering diagnostic investigations earlier.
USAID also helped strengthen community engagement systems. Community health workers were trained, active on the ground, writing reports, and able to detect the beginning of an outbreak as quickly as possible and relay information to the Ministry of Health.
Mongabay: How are you currently managing the response?
Dr. Macky Mbavugha: We are now in a phase where we must break the chain of virus transmission. That can be done through two main pillars. First, prevention and virus detection, where IRC has significant expertise thanks to previous outbreaks, particularly the 10th outbreak [the deadliest Ebola outbreak in the DRC, which lasted from 2018 to 2020 and caused nearly 2,300 deaths].
The second pillar is risk communication and community engagement. But we really need resources to properly educate communities about the disease and how to protect themselves. We are also working on prevention of sexual exploitation and gender-based violence. [An investigation by The New Humanitarian and the Thomson Reuters Foundation revealed that more than 50 women accused humanitarian workers employed by the WHO and major NGOs of sexual exploitation and abuse during the 10th Ebola outbreak in the DRC.]
We are providing personal protective equipment to health centers and response teams so that patients, health care workers and entire communities are protected. We are also improving water availability in health facilities and strengthening waste management systems because poor sanitation can become another source of contamination. But we are severely lacking resources.
Resources are far too limited, and I mean that globally, for all humanitarian actors. We are operating in a densely populated area where people are highly mobile and the region is insecure. Now that USAID funding no longer exists, we have far fewer means to monitor the evolution of the disease. The response is being deployed, but I clearly see the difference compared to the 10th outbreak. We have less capacity for awareness campaigns and also less ability to restrict population movements.
Mongabay: Why is access to water such an important part of the response?
Dr. Macky Mbavugha: As you know, Ebola spreads through contact. That means good hygiene reduces the risk of transmission. But running water is far from widely available here, and people rely heavily on wells. When there is no water, it becomes a major problem because people end up contaminating one another.
In health facilities, we need water to implement WASH measures [water, sanitation and hygiene]. Similarly, at home, we must ensure people can easily access water for household activities. Without that, the situation becomes much more complicated.
Mongabay: How is the population reacting to the Ebola response put in place by the international community?
Dr. Macky Mbavugha: Right now, I am in Rwampara. There is resistance regarding the dignified and safe isolation of suspected cases. Communities struggle to understand that during an active outbreak, we need to know everything about every person who dies. What caused their death? Were they infected before arriving at the hospital? That creates tensions.
Then there is the issue of mourning practices. In Africa, we are deeply attached to our dead. When someone dies, the family washes the body, keeps vigil, and people come for a final visit, cry, and touch the body. Especially in areas without electricity or morgues. During an Ebola outbreak, we must ensure nobody touches the deceased, and bodies must be placed directly in coffins. That creates significant resistance among the population. As a result, families do not want authorities to know when someone dies from Ebola because they want to keep their dead according to traditional customs.
Following the death of a patient last week, two ALIMA [Alliance for International Medical Action] tents dedicated to Ebola patient care were burned at the Rwampara General Hospital. In Mongwalu, an MSF tent was also burned down. Six people disappeared from isolation centers and are currently being searched for. All of this creates major risks for the community.
Banner image: Health workers accompany a child suspected of having Ebola at the disease treatment center in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, on September 9, 2018. For representation only. Image by Al-hadji Kudra Maliro, Associated Press.
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