An Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has rapidly escalated to nearly 500 confirmed cases, with the World Health Organisation warning that without strong intervention the epidemic could rival the worst on record. As of Saturday 6 June, the WHO tallied 452 confirmed cases and 82 deaths in the DRC, with a further 19 cases and two deaths recorded in neighbouring Uganda — bringing the combined total to 471 cases and 84 deaths, an increase of roughly 100 cases and 20 deaths in a single day.

The outbreak was officially declared on 15 May in the northeastern DRC, though health authorities believe the rare Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus had already been circulating undetected for some time beforehand. The epicentre is the Ituri province — a vast, conflict-affected region in the country's northeast — which accounts for 90 percent of confirmed cases and 76 percent of confirmed deaths, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control. Hospitals in the area are struggling to cope: the medical director of the Elikya clinic in Bunia, Ituri's main city, described being "overwhelmed" by the influx of patients and critical shortages of space. A significant challenge, health workers note, is that communities have not yet fully accepted the behavioural changes needed to contain the disease.

A senior official at the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention warned on Friday that without robust public health measures, the current outbreak risked matching the scale of the 2014 West Africa epidemic — the largest in history, with over 28,000 cases and more than 11,000 deaths. "That scale is possible," said Jason Asher, director of CDC's Center for Forecasting and Outbreak Analytics. The WHO and Africa CDC have launched a $518-million six-month response plan focused on surveillance, laboratory capacity and infection prevention. "The outbreak is moving fast, and we are still playing catch-up," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. No approved vaccine or treatment exists for the Bundibugyo species of Ebola.

The crisis is also creating significant cross-border strain. Uganda closed its western border with the DRC on 28 May, and has since tightened restrictions at the Mpondwe crossing — historically the country's top post for informal exports, valued at an estimated $131 million in 2023. Traders on both sides are reporting severe losses, with perishable goods rotting in stalled convoys. Uganda has so far confirmed 15 to 19 cases, all linked to Congolese nationals who sought treatment in Kampala before the outbreak was publicly known. Ugandan health officials have defended the border measures, noting more than 30 informal footpaths that make the frontier porous, though the WHO has discouraged outright border closures while acknowledging the high risk to neighbouring countries.

Ebola, first identified in 1976 in simultaneous outbreaks in what is now the DRC and South Sudan, spreads through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected people. It has killed more than 15,000 people across Africa over the past five decades. Misinformation is also hampering the response, with community radio stations in eastern Congo working to counter false narratives about the disease. Health authorities stress that contact tracing, isolation and protective equipment for medical workers remain the primary tools available in the absence of an approved treatment.