The World Health Organisation has issued updated temporary recommendations to member states as the Ebola Bundibugyo virus disease epidemic in the Democratic Republic of Congo continues to accelerate, with authorities recording more than 5,500 confirmed cases and over 2,690 deaths — a fatality rate of nearly 48 percent. The WHO Director-General, who convened the Emergency Committee for the second time on 18 August 2026, has described the outbreak as spreading more quickly than any previous one, and confirmed that it remains a public health emergency of international concern, a designation first issued in May 2026.
The DRC, a vast country in central Africa and the continent's second-largest by area, is the only nation currently classified as facing a "very high" risk. Several neighbouring countries, including Burundi and the Central African Republic, are assessed as "high risk", reflecting fears that the epidemic could cross porous borders in a region already marked by humanitarian fragility.
A critical factor complicating the response is the nature of the pathogen itself. The current outbreak is caused by Bundibugyo virus (BDBV), a member of the same Orthoebolavirus genus as the more widely known Ebola virus, but one for which no approved vaccines or therapeutics currently exist. Clinical trials are ongoing, but WHO has stressed that even if effective tools become available, they would complement — not replace — core public health interventions such as contact tracing, infection prevention, and safe and dignified burials.
The updated recommendations expand significantly on earlier guidance issued in May, with new or revised sections covering social measures, mass gatherings and domestic mobility, as well as detailed direction on community engagement. WHO is urging DRC authorities to scale up trust-building efforts through local leaders, religious figures, traditional healers and survivors, acknowledging that cultural barriers and deep mistrust — particularly in the conflict-affected eastern provinces — remain serious obstacles to controlling transmission. Member states are also advised to establish security corridors to allow health workers safe access to affected communities, including internally displaced persons camps.
The breadth of the updated guidance underscores why this outbreak matters beyond DRC's borders. The combination of a pathogen without approved countermeasures, ongoing insecurity in the country's east, and high population mobility across the Great Lakes region means that an inadequate response carries genuine regional and global consequences. WHO has called for full respect of human rights and the dignity of affected persons throughout the response — a reminder that in previous outbreaks, heavy-handed measures have eroded community cooperation and ultimately prolonged epidemics.