Ebola Update: September 2026
The current Ebola (Bundibugyo) outbreak was recognized on May 5, 2026, when a cluster was tested in DRC. A retrospective assessment was conducted from April 15-May 13 and identified 246 cases and 65 deaths. That means that the disease had been spreading for over three weeks without anyone knowing.
As of September 22nd, there have been 7,793 cases. The majority of those have been in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) (7,773 cases) with 3,759 deaths (48.24% case fatality rate, up from 44.05% in July). The number of contacts that require follow-up and quarantine have not been reported. Estimates suggest that 84.5% of contacts are under follow-up, though we don’t know what that equals without knowing how many contacts there are. Uganda has been deemed Ebola-free by the World Health Organization after surpassing the timeframe with no new cases. KLM has still stopped flights to and from Entebbe. We do not know when that will be lifted.
There is hope on the horizon, or at least we are all holding our breath for the moment. An Ebola vaccine created for the Zaire strain has been deployed to high-risk populations including frontline and healthcare workers. There is hope that the vaccine can provide protection against this new strain, Bundibugyo virus. Early lab testing showed some level of protection, so it has been rolled out since there are no other options. A case fatality rate of 48.24% is extremely high, meaning almost one in two people infected will die, so we are hoping that this vaccine will provide protection and lower that number.
This outbreak has remained the fastest growing Ebola outbreak in history. There are several factors that influence why this outbreak is spreading so quickly. Read my original post here to understand some of the complexities that exist from funding cuts, conflict, location, and disease distribution. Below is the most recent DRC map provided by the European Centre for Prevention and Disease Control.
Figure 1. European Centre for Prevention and Disease Control map of DRC areas affected by the current Ebola outbreak.
Friends in those regions, please stay vigilant. If you are one of our partners or are currently located in Uganda or DRC, please email us to get copies of free training resources and assistance (info.meetingtents@gmail.com). We stand with you and are here to help.
RESOURCES
https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/ebola-outbreak-democratic-republic-congo-and-uganda
https://www.cdc.gov/ebola/situation-summary/index.html
https://www.klm.com/information/travel-alerts
https://www.who.int/emergencies/emergency-events/item/2026-e000253