Ebola fears surge on the ground in Congo over rapid spread of a rare
type
[May 21, 2026]
By JUSTIN KABUMBA and MONIKA PRONCZUK
BUNIA, Congo (AP) — Anxious healthcare workers in eastern Congo said
Wednesday they are underprotected and undertrained in a rapidly
spreading Ebola outbreak of a rare type of the virus in one of the
world’s most remote and vulnerable places.
Long the scene of attacks by an array of armed groups, the region's
volatility now further complicates efforts to handle the crisis. Local
leaders said an attack by militants linked to the Islamic State group
killed at least 17 people on Tuesday night in Alima village in Ituri, a
province that has become the hot spot of the outbreak.
The World Health Organization, which noted a low risk globally, has said
“patient zero” has not been found.
“It’s truly sad and painful because we’ve already been through a
security crisis, and now Ebola is here too,” said Justin Ndasi, a Bunia
resident,
Tons of health supplies have been airlifted to Bunia, where the first
known death was announced last week, but residents said masks are harder
to find and some disinfectants that previously sold for 2,500 Congolese
francs (about $1) now cost four times more.
A mother watches her son 'bleeding and vomiting’
At a treatment center in Rwampara, families cried and watched as
healthcare workers in protective gear silently disinfected the bodies of
their loved ones — suspected Ebola victims — and placed them into
coffins for secure burial sites.
The disease struck suddenly, they said, describing a rapid deterioration
after symptoms were mistaken for illnesses such as malaria.
“He told me his heart was hurting,” said Botwine Swanze, who lost her
son. “Then he started crying because of the pain. ... Then he started
bleeding and vomiting a lot.”
The Ebola virus is highly contagious and spreads in the human population
through contact with bodily fluids such as vomit, blood or semen.
Symptoms include fever, vomiting, diarrhea, muscle pain and at times
internal and external bleeding.
WHO chief says the 'scale of the epidemic is much larger’
WHO has declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international
concern, worried over its “scale and speed.” The WHO chief in Congo says
it could last at least two months.
The rare type of Ebola, known as the Bundibugyo virus, spread undetected
for weeks following the first known death while authorities tested for
another, more common Ebola virus and came up negative.
Investigations continued into where and when the outbreak started, but
“given the scale, we are thinking that it has started probably a couple
of months ago,” said Anaïs Legand, with WHO's emergencies program.
So far, 51 cases have been confirmed in Congo’s northern provinces of
Ituri and North Kivu, and two cases in Uganda, WHO Director-General
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday. There are 139 suspected
deaths and almost 600 suspected cases.
But “the scale of the epidemic is much larger,” he said.
The London-based MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis
estimated that cases have been substantially undercounted and that the
actual number could already exceed 1,000. “The true magnitude remains
uncertain,” it said.
This is Congo’s 17th Ebola outbreak, and the WHO has said the country's
health ministry has experienced staff and capacity to respond. Most
outbreaks, however, were of the more common Ebola type.
Any potential vaccine is months away
Dr. Vasee Moorthy, a special adviser at WHO, said a vaccine to address
Bundibugyo would not be available for at least six to nine months.
Eastern Congo already faced “immense pressure from conflict,
displacement and a collapsing health system,” said Dr. Lievin Bangali,
senior health coordinator for the International Rescue Committee in
Congo, adding that years of underfunding have weakened the response.
The outbreak highlights the effects of the Trump administration’s deep
cuts in foreign aid. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said the
administration set a priority on funding 50 emergency clinics in
affected areas. The U.S. pledged to contribute $23 million.
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Relatives look on as people who died of Ebola are taken from a
health center in Rwampara, Congo, Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (AP
Photo/Moses Sawasawa)
 Anxiety grows with little
protection in affected places
In Bunia, schools and churches remain open while some residents wear
masks. Elsewhere in Ituri province, suspected Ebola patients share a
ward with others injured or ill at Bambu General Hospital.
A Doctors Without Borders team identified suspected cases over the
weekend at Bunia's Salama hospital but found no available isolation
ward in the area, said Trish Newport, an emergency program manager.
“Every health facility they called said, ‘We’re full of suspect
cases. We don’t have any space.’ This gives you a vision of how
crazy it is right now,” she said on social media.
In Mongbwalu, where the body of the first known death was taken, the
nearby border with Uganda remains open and gold mining continues,
said Chérubin Kuku Ndilawa, a civil society leader.
“There’s no panic. People continue with their normal lives, but
they’re also starting to spread the word,” said Ndilawa, and noted a
lack of public handwashing stations.
There were around 30 Ebola patients at Mongbwalu General Hospital,
where a student from the local medical technology institute died on
Wednesday, Dr. Didier Pay said.
“The patients are scattered here and there,” said Dr. Richard Lokudu,
the hospital’s medical director. “We hope for the proper triage and
isolation facilities to be installed today, and if that doesn’t
happen, we will be completely overwhelmed.”
They are understaffed and not trained to handle suspected cases,
Lokudu said, and added that if confirmed cases surge, “we have no
protection.”
In the Ebola-affected city of Goma, where Rwanda-backed M23 rebels
are in control, the “situation is complicated,” said Dr. Anne Ancia,
WHO's representative in Congo.
An American with Ebola is in isolation in Germany
A U.S. national who tested positive in Congo arrived in Berlin on
Wednesday and was in a special isolation ward where a “comprehensive
examination” was underway, German Health Ministry spokesperson
Martin Elsässer said.
Elsässer declined to comment on the condition of the patient, who
has not been identified by German or U.S. authorities. The ministry
later said, without elaborating, that it would take in the patient's
wife and three children at the request of U.S. authorities.
A top health official in the Czech Republic said they are receiving
an American doctor who was treating Ebola patients in Uganda and who
is without symptoms. It was not clear whether any were infected.
Dr. Satish Pillai, incident manager for Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention’s Ebola response, told reporters Wednesday that the
Americans were being transported in coordination with the U.S. State
Department and other agencies. One patient, who is in stable
condition, is now being treated in Germany, Pillai said.
Asked whether the White House played a role in the decision to move
the Americans to Europe, Pillai said the decision was based on
conditions on the ground and the need to mobilize rapidly.
___
Associated Press writers Jamey Keaten in Geneva; Jean Yves Kamale in
Kinshasa, Congo; Wilson McMakin in Dakar, Senegal; Devi Shastri in
Milwaukee; Karel Janicek in Prague and Geir Moulson in Berlin
contributed to this report.
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