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Key Figures at a Glance
° 3 Countries Affected
° 1 645 Confirmed Cases
° 523 Confirmed Deaths
° 31.8% CFR Confirmed
° 12 417 Contacts to follow
Summary
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Event description
° The Bundibugyo virus disease (BVD) outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo continues to intensify, driven by sustained transmission in hotspot health zones of Ituri and North Kivu provinces.
° The outbreak is marked by growing numbers of community deaths, and the continued spread of infection into previously unaffected health zones.
° While Uganda has not reported any new confirmed cases during the past week, and the imported case reported in France has fully recovered without evidence of secondary transmission among identified contacts, the ongoing epidemic in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo continues to pose a significant regional and global public health threat.
Democratic Republic of the Congo
° Compared with the previous update issued on 28 June 2026 (Situation Report #7), the epidemiological situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has deteriorated further.
° An additional 317 confirmed cases and 144 confirmed deaths have been reported, representing increases of 24.3% and 38.2%, in cumulative cases and deaths respectively.
° The crude case fatality ratio (CFR) rose from 28.8% to 32.1%.
° Geographic spread continues as the first confirmed case was detected in Lolwa health zone in Ituri Province, increasing the total number of affected health zones to 36.
Figure 1. Weekly trends of confirmed cases of Bundibugyo virus disease in the Democratic Republic of the Congo by epidemiological week of report, epidemiological weeks 18 – 27, 2026
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° Mabalako and Vuhovi health zones have now completed 21 consecutive days, without reporting a confirmed case and have been added to the list of areas with no recent transmission.
° However, Rimba Health Zone, which had previously gone 25 days without reporting a case, has now reported a new confirmed case.
° This brings the total number of previously affected health zones that have surpassed the 21-day threshold to eight.
° These include MitiMurhesa in South Kivu Province (46 days); Gety (45 days), Mambasa (33 days), and Aru (31 days) in Ituri Province; and Kalunguta (42 days), Goma (41 days), Vuhovi (24 days), and Mabalako (22 days) in North Kivu Province.
° The outbreak remains active in 28 health zones across Ituri and North Kivu provinces that have reported confirmed cases within the past 21 days.
° During this period, 787 confirmed cases and 325 confirmed deaths were reported.
° Ituri Province continues to bear the overwhelming burden of the outbreak, accounting for 710 cases (90.2%) and 282 deaths (86.8%) across 21 active health zones.
° The remaining seven active health zones in North Kivu reported 77 cases (9.8%) and 43 deaths (13.2%).
° The highest transmission was recorded in Bunia (237 cases), Rwampara (190 cases), Mongbwalu (103 cases), Nizi (62 cases), Nyankunde (51 cases), and Lita (24 cases) in Ituri Province.
° In North Kivu Province, Katwa (27 cases) and Butembo (21 cases) remained the main areas of transmission.
° Collectively, these health zones accounted for 90.9% of all confirmed cases reported during the past 21 days.
° A similar pattern was observed for mortality. Bunia reported the highest number of deaths (101), followed by Mongbwalu (66), Rwampara (45), Katwa (22), Nizi (18), Nyankunde (15), Lita (12), Mangala (11), and Butembo (11).
° Together, these health zones accounted for 92.6% of all confirmed deaths reported during the same period.
° The crude CFR of the outbreak also increased over recent weeks. In Ituri Province, the CFR rose from 20.5% on 15 June to 29.7% on 05 July 2026, while North Kivu continued to record the highest provincial CFR, remaining above 56% throughout the reporting period.
° The largest increase in CFR was observed in Lita Health Zone (+36.4 percentage points), followed by Komanda (+22.1 percentage points), Nizi (+18.1 percentage points), and Bunia (+17.6 percentage points).
° These elevated CFRs likely reflect continued delays in case detection and healthcare-seeking behaviour, compounded by the persistently high proportion of deaths occurring in the community.
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° Since the beginning of the outbreak, the Democratic Republic of the Congo has reported 1624 confirmed cases, including 521 confirmed deaths (CFR 32.1%].
° Ituri Province remains the epicentre of the outbreak, accounting for 90.9% (1477) of all confirmed cases and 84.3% (439) of all reported deaths nationwide.
° The most affected health zones are Bunia (452 cases, 121 deaths), Rwampara (349 cases, 72 deaths), Mongbwalu (288 cases, 149 deaths), Nyankunde (96 cases, 19 deaths), Nizi (78 cases, 19 deaths), Lita (33 cases, 12 deaths), and Mangala (33 cases, 14 deaths), all located in Ituri Province, as well as Katwa (52 cases, 38 deaths), Butembo (40 cases, 18 deaths), and Beni (29 cases, 17 deaths) in North Kivu Province. Together, these health zones account for nearly 89.3% of all confirmed cases and 91.9% of confirmed deaths reported nationally.
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° Investigation of 430 confirmed deaths as of 05 July 2026, showed that 397 (92.3%) occurred in the community or before admission to a treatment facility, highlighting persistent delays in case detection, referral, isolation, and access to clinical care.
° Only 33 deaths (7.7%) occurred after patients had been admitted to treatment centres or healthcare facilities.
As of 05 July 2026, a total of 12412 contacts were under follow-up of whom 9624 (77.5%) were successfully seen within the previous 24 hours.
° Ituri Province accounted for the majority of contacts under follow-up, with 9757 contacts, including 7574 (77.6%) seen during the reporting period.
° In North Kivu, 2050 out of 2655 contacts (77.2%) were followed up, while all contacts in South Kivu had completed the required 21-day monitoring period.
° Although contact tracing performance has improved overall, follow-up remains below optimal levels, leaving a significant proportion of contacts unreached and increasing the likelihood of undetected infections and continued transmission.
° The proportion of new confirmed cases identified among registered contacts increased steadily as the outbreak progressed, exceeding 40% by late June 2026.
° Overall, 32.4% of confirmed cases were detected through contact follow-up. However, a substantial number of infections continued to occur outside known contact lists, indicating ongoing gaps in surveillance. These gaps are likely driven by insecurity in affected areas, population displacement and mobility, delayed case detection, community resistance, incomplete epidemiological investigations, and the movement of suspected cases and deceased individuals across affected areas.
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Uganda
° Uganda has not reported any new cases during the past two weeks.
° The latest confirmed case was reported on 21 June 2026 and involved a truck driver travelling along the Democratic Republic of the Congo–Uganda international route.
° The case became symptomatic on 15 June 2026, crossed into Uganda on 19 June, and was admitted to the treatment unit for isolation on 20 June 2026.
° As of 5 July 2026, the outbreak had resulted in a total of 21 cases (20 confirmed and one probable).
° Three deaths, including two confirmed and one probable, had been reported, while 16 patients had recovered and been discharged from care.
° Two patients remained hospitalised.
° Since the onset of the outbreak, health authorities had identified 831 contacts.
° All contacts placed under follow-up have now completed the required 21-day monitoring period without any new linked cases being detected.
Figure 5. Weekly trends of confirmed cases of Bundibugyo virus disease in Uganda by epidemiological week of report, epidemiological weeks 18 – 27, 2026
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France
° The imported laboratory-confirmed case of BVD, notified to WHO by the French authorities on 24 June 2026, has recovered and was discharged from hospital on 4 July after obtaining two consecutive negative laboratory test results.
° The patient, a middle-aged male physician, had recently returned from a five-week deployment in Ituri Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo, where he provided clinical care to patients with BVD.
° Upon arrival at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris on 23 June 2026, he voluntarily reported experiencing symptoms to airport health officials, prompting his immediate isolation and transfer to a designated high-containment treatment facility.
° Contact tracing identified five passengers who had travelled on the same flight as the patient. These individuals were placed under quarantine in France and continue to be monitored.
° None had become symptomatic as of 5 July 2026.
Risk Assessment
° The overall public health risk in the Democratic Republic of the Congo remains very high, driven by sustained and widespread transmission that continues to outpace the current response capacity.
° The outbreak remains concentrated in the Bunia–Rwampara–Mongbwalu corridor, although transmission persists across multiple affected health zones.
° The persistently elevated case fatality ratio in North Kivu suggests ongoing delays in case detection, diagnosis, and access to clinical care, while treatment capacity in Ituri Province is becoming increasingly strained.
° Although contact follow-up and alert investigation have improved, performance remains insufficient to rapidly interrupt transmission.
° In addition, reports of threatened strike action among frontline response workers have emerged in affected areas, reportedly linked to delays in payment and other operational constraints.
° If not rapidly addressed by health authorities and partners, these challenges could further disrupt critical response activities and undermine ongoing outbreak control efforts.
° Uganda continues to face a high risk of importation due to frequent population movement from eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, including commercial trucking routes and possible informal cross-border crossings linked to border closures.
° The imported case reported in France further demonstrates the continued risk of international spread and highlights the need to sustain enhanced surveillance, strengthen traveller awareness, and reinforce cross-border coordination and preparedness measures.
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