The deadliest active infectious disease outbreak in the world has rapidly escalated over the past three weeks. The 2026 Bundibugyo virus Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda — declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) by the World Health Organization on May 16 — reached 598 confirmed cases including 115 deaths and 297 people hospitalized in isolation as of June 8, 2026, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, which is tracking the outbreak in real time. The case count has grown faster than any previous Bundibugyo outbreak on record.
On June 10, 2026 — just yesterday — the U.S. Department of State announced $20 million in additional emergency funding, bringing total direct U.S. funding for the Ebola response to more than $220 million. The announcement comes as WHO noted that contact tracing is running at only 45 percent — well below the 90 percent threshold needed to stay ahead of an outbreak — and that the response faces a $115 million funding gap.
