outbreak

A fast-growing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has crossed borders, raising alarms far beyond Central Africa. This time, the virus is a strain with no approved vaccine or treatment. As cases rise and governments scramble to respond, can the outbreak be contained before it spreads further?

In this episode: 

• Catherine Soi (@cate_soi), Al Jazeera Correspondent

Episode credits:

This episode was produced by Marcos Bartolomé and Sarí el-Khalili with Spencer Cline, Tamara Khandaker, Jana Dabliz, and our host, Malika Bilal. It was edited by Tamara Khandaker. 

Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Rick Rush mixed this episode. Our video editors are Hisham Abu Salah and Mohannad al-Melhem. Alexandra Locke is The Take’s executive producer. 

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The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has vowed not to shut down schools in Ituri province, despite the ongoing Ebola outbreak, which has already killed five schoolchildren since the epidemic began. The government announced the decision on Thursday, May 28, during a press briefing by the Minister of Public Health, Roger Kamba. 

Roger noted at the press briefing that the government’s focus is on enhancing preventive measures in schools rather than shutting them down. 

“We are not going to close schools. Our priority is to implement preventive measures to avoid further hardships for the children,” the Minister insisted. He expressed concern over the five schoolchildren who lost their lives, noting that many of these fatalities were related to self-medication and delays in accessing medical care.

Meanwhile, Congolese health officials had urged families to refrain from treating suspected cases at home and to seek medical help promptly. The officials warned amid heightened health monitoring in Ituri, where local authorities and partners are ramping up awareness campaigns to curb the spread of the virus.

The current outbreak spans three provinces: Ituri, South Kivu, and North Kivu, affecting 13 health zones. As of May 26, Ituri province reported 16 new confirmed cases, bringing the total to 121 confirmed cases and 17 deaths. “We know the outbreak in the DR Congo is more extensive, with over 900 suspected cases and 220 suspected deaths,” stated WHO Director General Tedros Ghebreyesus.

Tedros had earlier warned that the current Ebola epidemic affecting parts of the DRC  is attributed to the Bundibugyo strain of the virus, stressing that there is currently no approved vaccine or treatment available. While discussing the troubling elements contributing to the Ebola outbreak in the DRC, Tedros said that, unlike earlier strains such as Zaire Ebola, which have effective medical solutions, the Bundibugyo strain poses a significant challenge due to the absence of preventive vaccines and effective treatments. 

The lack of medical options raises serious epidemiological concerns, with the WHO director reporting around 600 suspected cases and 139 fatalities. The numbers are likely to increase, as the virus may have been spreading undetected for some time. 

The virus has infiltrated multiple urban areas, and healthcare workers have also been impacted, increasing the risk of transmission nationwide. The situation is further complicated by regional security issues, particularly in Ituri province, which has faced significant violence since late 2025, displacing thousands of people. This area is a resource-rich mining zone with a highly mobile population, contributing to a heightened risk of virus spread.

Given the lack of validated treatments, however,  the WHO is investigating potential vaccines and therapeutics for widespread use. Tedros has called upon the international community to take action, stressing that the five identified risk factors, including population movement, transmission within health facilities, and urban expansion, could collectively worsen the epidemic’s impact on public health. 

Women in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo are disproportionately impacted by Ebola as shortages of protective gear amid funding cuts accelerate the spread of disease. Al Jazeera’s Imogen Kimber reports how these caregivers to the living and the dead are most at risk.

The Foreign Office has updated its travel advice for Brits to a number of destinations as a new Ebola outbreak has been declared in the Democratic Republic of Congo

The Foreign Office has updated its travel advice for a number of countries after an Ebola outbreak earlier this month in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

On May 15, the country’s Ministry of Health confirmed an outbreak of Ebola Bundibugyo in the North-Eastern Ituri Province, while cases have also been confirmed in Uganda. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has since declared Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.

As a result, a number of destinations to introduce stricter measures for travellers from health screenings for foreign nationals to quarantine for residents in certain cases.

For example, Kenya has introduced enhanced health screenings for passengers arriving from Uganda, Ethiopia, and DRC, while Tanzania has also introduced increase public health measures for incoming travellers.

Now the Foreign Office has updated its travel advice for Uganda, Angola and the Central African Republic, with warnings around new health screenings and entry requirements for anyone travelling to those destinations.

In its Angola advice, it warns: “On 15 May the Democratic Republic of Congo Ministry of Health announced an outbreak of Ebola Bundibugyo in the North-Eastern Ituri Province. Read more about the Ebola outbreak on TravelHealth Pro and see information on Ebola and similar diseases. World Health Organisation (WHO) have declared this a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.

Due to the outbreak, you may experience heightened health screening at international borders in the region. Check entry requirements for the country you’re travelling to or transiting.”

The Foreign Office has already been advising “against all travel to parts of Central African Republic” before the Ebola outbreak in the DRC and Uganda, but has updated its advice due to the country sharing a border with the DRC.

Virginia Messina, Group CEO of African Travel and Tourism Association (ATTA), said: “Established protocols are in place within countries bordering the DRC and as a result tourism operations and business trips across the wider African continent continue normally. As of 27 May, no other cases have been detected outside of Uganda and DRC. The risk to travellers on standard itineraries outside affected areas remains very low, and it’s important to highlight that Ebola is not easily transmitted through casual contact.

“However, travel rules and screening measures may change quickly. The WHO (World Health Organisation) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) are scaling up efforts to contain the virus but continue to advise against blanket travel restrictions and neither the UK, nor any European country has introduced entry bans.”

Uganda has closed its border with neighbouring DR Congo for four weeks in an effort to contain an Ebola outbreak. Authorities say at least seven cases, including one death, have been confirmed, while hundreds are being monitored.

With almost 750 suspected Ebola cases in the DRC, health measures intensified along the DRC–Uganda border. At the busy Mpondwe crossing near outbreak zones in Beni, authorities deployed health workers and shut weekly border markets, measures that residents say are threatening their livelihoods.

DRC’s public sendoff in the capital was also cancelled before their departure for the FIFA World Cup.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) football team have cancelled a three-day World Cup preparation training camp and a planned public farewell to fans in the capital, Kinshasa, because of an Ebola outbreak in the east of the country.

DRC are scheduled to play World Cup warm-up games against Denmark in Liege, Belgium, on June 3, and Chile in southern Spain on June 9. Both matches are going ahead as planned, team spokesman Jerry Kalemo told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

“There were three stages of preparation: In Kinshasa to say goodbye to the public, Belgium and Spain with two friendly matches against Denmark in Liege and Chile in Spain, and the third stage from June 11 in Houston, United States. Only one stage was canceled – the one in Kinshasa,” Kalemo said.

The team’s pre-tournament preparations will now take place elsewhere after an outbreak of a rare type of Ebola known as Bundibugyo, which is thought to have killed more than 130 people and caused nearly 600 suspected cases.

The World Health Organization has declared it a public health emergency of international concern.

All of the DRC players and the team’s French coach, Sebastien Desabre, are based outside of the central African country, with most of them playing in France.

A number of team staff who are based in DRC “are leaving in the next hours”, Kalemo said.

Football’s governing body FIFA issued a statement that “it is aware of and monitoring the situation regarding an Ebola outbreak and is in close communication with the DRC Football Association to ensure that the team are made aware of all medical and security guidance.”

The American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said this week that the US would ban the entry of all foreign nationals who had been in DRC, Uganda and South Sudan within the past three weeks. The ban lasts for 30 days.

A US official said the Congolese World Cup team would not be affected by the CDC entry ban because they had been training in Europe for the past several weeks. That means team members, coaches and other officials who have not returned to DRC in the past three weeks would not be subject to the entry ban, according to the official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the policy has not been publicly announced.

Those members of the Congolese World Cup delegation who did return to DRC during the 21 days will be subject to the same quarantine requirements as US citizens seeking to return from affected countries, according to the official. That exception will not apply to Congolese fans who want to attend the World Cup, the official said.

The White House World Cup Task Force, housed under the Department of Homeland Security, stressed that it is “coordinating closely” with various agencies on health and security matters and that the government is “closely monitoring” the outbreak.

DRC, who qualified for the World Cup after winning a playoff tournament in Mexico, have been drawn in Group K. They face Portugal in their opening game in Houston on June 17.

The Leopards then face Colombia in Guadalajara on June 23 before playing Uzbekistan in Atlanta for their final group game on June 27.

DRC’s first World Cup qualification since 1974, when the country was called Zaire, led to scenes of jubilation across the nation, which has been battered by decades of conflict.

“I am afraid of dying.” From Bukavu to Kinshasa, concern is spreading among residents and street vendors as Ebola cases rise. In cities hundreds of miles apart, people are wearing face masks and calling for stronger protections from the latest outbreak in DR Congo.

The recent Ebola outbreak in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has resulted in a rising death toll, reaching 118 fatalities on Monday, May 18, which is a significant jump from the 80 deaths recorded just two days earlier. This outbreak is the 17th recorded Ebola virus epidemic in the DRC and has been described as a matter of international emergency by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Patrick Muyaya, the DRC government spokesperson, announced that two additional health zones have been identified as impacted by the virus. These include Nyankunde in the Irumu territory of Ituri province. A suspected case has also emerged in Goma, the chief town of North Kivu.

The outbreak is now affecting multiple geographic areas, including Mongwalu, Rwampara, Bunia, Nyankunde in Ituri, as well as Butembo-Katwa and Goma in North Kivu. 

Butembo, a commercial town in North Kivu, was severely impacted during the Ebola Zaire strain outbreak from 2018 to 2020. Goma, which has been under the control of the M23 rebels since early 2025, serves as a significant regional transit hub on the border with Rwanda and Uganda.

The Bundibugyo Ebola strain, noted as the 17th epidemic in the DRC, was declared on May 15. Complete sequencing of the viral genome confirms that it is a genetically distinct variant from previous Bundibugyo outbreaks in 2007 and 2012, originating directly from an animal reserve, according to Jean-Jacques Muyembe, director of the DRC National Institute of Biomedical Research.

On May 17, after the WHO declared the epidemic an international public health emergency, the British organisation Oxfam also estimated that the global number of infections currently stands at 400.

The World Health Organization is getting health experts and supplies to DR Congo to battle the Ebola outbreak. WHO representative Anne Ancia says the situation in Bunia, the epicentre of the outbreak, is complex and difficult.

May 18 (UPI) — The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday restricted non-U.S. passport holders from entering the United States if they have been in Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo or South Sudan in the past 21 days.

The agency made the announcement as there have at least 346 cases and 88 deaths in the DRC, on top of several cases that have been confirmed in nearby nations in people who been there, the CDC said over the weekend.

The CDC said that is coordinating with various agencies and companies to manage travelers who have been exposed to Ebola as it also deploys employees to support containment of the outbreak in the three nations.

“CDC assess the immediate risk to the general U.S. public as low, but we will continue to evaluate the evolving situation and may adjust public health measures as additional information becomes available,” the agency said in a situation summary.

In the last five days, the World Health Organization confirmed that the Ebola virus circulating in the three countries right now is the Bundibuyo virus, one of four known strains that have affected humans since Ebola was discovered in mid-1970s.

Although there is an approved, licensed vaccine against Ebola which has successfully been used to quell outbreaks, the vaccine — called Ervebo — only protects against acquisition of the Zaire species of Ebola virus, making it useless in the current outbreak, according to the CDC.

WHO on Saturday declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.

In its update, WHO said that there are “significant uncertainties to the true number of infected persons and geographic spread associated with this event at the present time. In addition, there is limited understanding of the epidemiologic links with known or suspected cases.”

Ebola spreads from wild animals to humans and from human to human through direct contact with blood or other bodily fluids from infected individuals, and carries a case fatality rate of roughly 50%.

A number of affected Americans have reportedly been exposed to the virus during the outbreak.

The CDC has recommended that people who have traveled through the two countries in the last 21 days should immediately seek medical attention if they develop Ebola symptoms, which can include fever, weakness, vomiting, diarrhea or unexplained bleeding.

In addition to roughly 30 CDC employees dispatched to the region, and will join officials from several other global and regional health agencies, the WHO is expected to convene an emergency committee to advise the agency’s director-general on its response the outbreak.

It’s a global health crisis – not a pandemic.

But the World Health Organization is warning that the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and neighbouring Uganda could be much larger than what has been detected so far.

The global health body is advising countries to activate national disaster mechanisms and introduce cross-border and internal screening.

Presenter: James Bays

Guests:

Ariel Kestens – Head of the Kinshasa delegation, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies

Dr Margaret Harris – Lecturer at the United Nations Institute for Training and Research

Dr Ahmed Ogwell Ouma – Former deputy director-general of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention

The Democratic Republic of Congo has faced repeated Ebola outbreaks, but insecurity in the eastern part of the country is making this most recent outbreak difficult to control.

Neighbouring countries have already reported some cases, and the World Health Organization has said the outbreak’s real impact is yet to be seen.
The Democratic Republic of Congo has faced repeated Ebola outbreaks, but insecurity in the eastern part of the country is making this most recent outbreak difficult to control.

Neighbouring countries have already reported some cases, and the World Health Organization has said the outbreak’s real impact is yet to be seen.
Al Jazeera’s Hamza Mohamed explains.

An Ebola outbreak caused by the rare Bundibugyo strain has killed dozens in Democratic Republic of the Congo and is spreading into Uganda, raising fears of regional transmission. Health officials say instability and shared borders are complicating containment efforts as the World Health Organization declares a global health emergency.

May 15 (UPI) — The Democratic Republic of Congo declared an Ebola outbreak on Friday as 65 people have died from the disease in the country’s eastern region.

There have been about 246 cases reported, many of them in the Ituri province’s small mining towns of Mongbwalu and Rwampara. The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said in a statement Friday that it is meeting with DRC, Ugandan and South Sudanese leaders to prepare a response to the outbreak.

Uganda and South Sudan border the Ituri province.

Africa CDC said that the DRC’s national research laboratory has detected Ebola in 13 of 20 samples it has tested.

There have been 16 prior Ebola outbreaks in the DRC since 1976 when it first identified the virus within its borders. Vaccines are available for the Zaire strain. Africa CDC said that early testing indicates the current strain is not the Zaire strain.

“Africa CDC stands in solidarity with the government and people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo as they respond to this outbreak,” Dr. Jean Kaseya, director general of Africa CDC, said in a statement. “Given the high population movement between affected areas and neighboring countries, rapid regional coordination is essential.”

The mining towns where the outbreak is centered experience a lot of inbound and outbound traffic, raising concerns about the disease spreading further.

Ebola is a severe illness with a high fatality rate in humans, reaching as high as 90% in some cases, the World Health Organization says.

Infection can be spread by direct contact with a person who is infected or object surfaces that are contaminated with bodily fluids from a person who is sick or has died from the disease.

The Ebola virus can incubate between two and 21 days. Symptoms include fever, fatigue, malaise, muscle pain, headache and sore throat, before progressing to vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, rash and symptoms related to impaired kidney and liver functions.

There were 64 cases of Ebola reported in the DRC last year, with 45 deaths, a 70% rate of fatality, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. That outbreak occurred from September to December in the remote Bulape health zone in the Kasai province, which has a relatively low population density.

BORDEAUX — Passengers unaffected by an illness outbreak on a British cruise ship have been allowed off the ship in Bordeaux, while authorities confirmed the cause of the outbreak is norovirus, a nasty stomach bug that spreads easily.

French authorities had initially ordered over 1,700 passengers and crew on The Ambition cruise ship to remain on board, but then decided late Wednesday to let those unaffected disembark. One passenger was spotted raising his arms in triumph while leaving the vessel.

It was not immediately clear how many left the ship.

French authorities said there is no link to a deadly hantavirus outbreak on a Dutch vessel that has put European health authorities on alert in recent weeks.

The Ambition was midway through a 14-night cruise from Belfast and Liverpool, with scheduled stops in northern Spain and along France’s Atlantic coast when it was struck by the outbreak. It reached Bordeaux on Tuesday evening, according to the operator, Ambassador Cruise Line. It was not immediately clear if or when it would resume its journey.

Samples analyzed at Bordeaux University Hospital confirmed an outbreak of norovirus. Local authorities said at this stage no serious cases have been reported and that sick passengers were cared for onboard by the ship’s medical team.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which tracks outbreaks on voyages that call on U.S. and foreign ports, recorded 23 gastrointestinal outbreaks on cruise ships last year. Most were caused by norovirus, including a new strain.

Ambassador Cruise Line, a British operator catering to passengers over 50, was founded in 2021.

The cruise ship hit by a deadly hantavirus outbreak has arrived near the Port of Granadilla in Tenerife in the Canary Islands.

The Dutch-flagged MV Hondius arrived at the Spanish port early on Sunday, escorted by a Civil Guard vessel, according to data from the maritime tracking service VesselFinder.

The ship had left for Tenerife on Wednesday from the coast of Cape Verde after the World Health Organization (WHO) and European Union asked Spain to manage the evacuation of its passengers after the hantavirus outbreak was detected.

The WHO said on Friday that at least eight people on the ship had fallen ill, including three who died – a Dutch couple and a German national. Six of these people are confirmed to have contracted the virus with another two suspected cases, the WHO said.

All passengers on the luxury cruise ship are being considered high-risk contacts as a precautionary measure, Europe’s public health agency said late on Saturday as part of its rapid scientific advice.

In Tenerife, the passengers will be tested by Spanish health authorities to ensure they remain asymptomatic and will then be transported to land in small boats, according to Spanish officials.

Sealed-off buses will take the passengers to the Spanish island’s main airport about 10 minutes away, where they will board planes heading to their respective countries.

The evacuation is expected to begin between 7:30am and 8:30am (06:30 and 07:00 GMT), according to Spanish authorities.

Spanish nationals are set to disembark first with other nationalities to follow in groups, government officials said. Thirty crew members will remain on board and will sail to the Netherlands, where the ship will be disinfected.

‘This is not another Covid’

Hantavirus is usually spread by rodents but can in rare cases be transmitted person to person.

WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus arrived on Saturday evening in Tenerife with Spain’s interior and health ministers and its minister for territorial policy to coordinate the arrival of the ship.

He gave people in Tenerife assurances and thanked them for their solidarity.

“I need you to hear me clearly,” Tedros wrote in an open letter to the people of Tenerife on Saturday: “This is not another Covid.”

WHO’s epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention director, Maria Van Kerkhove, said that while everybody on board will be classified as “a high-risk contact”, the risk to the general public and the people of the Canaries remained low.

In the city of Granadilla de Abona early on Sunday, life appeared largely normal. Some people were swimming, others shopping at the market or sitting at cafe terraces.

“There are worries there could be a danger, but honestly, I don’t see people being very concerned,” David Parada, a lottery vendor, told the AFP news agency.

Tracking and tracing around the world

The MV Hondius left Ushuaia, Argentina, on April 1 for a cruise across the Atlantic Ocean to Cape Verde.

Argentinian provincial health official Juan Petrina said there was an “almost zero chance” the Dutch man linked to the outbreak contracted the disease in Ushuaia based on the virus’s incubation period, among other factors.

Health authorities in several countries have been tracking passengers who had already disembarked and anyone who may have come into contact with them.

A flight attendant on the Dutch airline KLM, who came into contact with an infected passenger from the cruise ship and later showed mild symptoms, tested negative for the hantavirus, the WHO said on Friday.

The passenger, the wife of the first person to die in the outbreak, had briefly been on a plane bound from Johannesburg to the Netherlands on April 25 but was removed before takeoff. She died the following day in a Johannesburg hospital.

Spanish authorities said a woman on that flight was also being tested for the hantavirus after having developed symptoms at home in eastern Spain. She is in isolation in hospital, Secretary of State for Health Javier Padilla said.

Two Singapore residents who had been on the ship tested negative for the disease but will remain in quarantine, the city-state’s authorities said on Friday.

British health authorities also said on Friday that there was a suspected case on Tristan da Cunha in the South Atlantic, one of the world’s most isolated settlements with about 220 residents. The MV Hondius had stopped there on April15.

WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told Tenerife residents that the docking of a cruise ship hit by a Hantavirus outbreak does not pose the risk of triggering a Covid-like pandemic.

The World Health Organization says the hantavirus poses a low risk to public health.

Arrangements are underway to repatriate passengers from a cruise ship after three people on board died.

So, how are officials applying the lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic to respond to the hantavirus?

Presenter: James Bays

Guests:

Dr Mukesh Kapila – Professor Emeritus of Global Health and Humanitarian Affairs at the University of Manchester

Dr Margaret Harris – Lecturer at the United Nations Institute for Training and Research, former W.H.O. spokeswoman

Nicholas Locker – Professor of Virology at the Pirbright Institute, near Guildford, UK