The DRC's largest Ebola outbreak is in its fifth month: 8,978 confirmed cases and 4,336 deaths to 10 October, across 65 of 167 health zones in seven provinces. Kenya's first imported case died in Nairobi on 5 October; its contacts are in quarantine with no symptoms so far, and every suspected case since has tested negative.

The WHO is alerted to a high-mortality illness of unknown cause in Mongbwalu health zone, Ituri, a mining area, including four health worker deaths within four days. The presumed index case is a health worker whose symptoms began on 24 April and who died at a medical centre in Bunia.

INRB in Kinshasa confirms Orthoebolavirus in eight samples from Rwampara and identifies Bundibugyo virus by sequencing; earlier GeneXpert tests in Bunia were negative because that platform does not detect this virus. The DRC Ministry of Public Health declares its 17th Ebola outbreak, with 246 suspected cases and 80 deaths. Uganda confirms an imported case in Kampala, a man admitted on 11 May who died on 14 May.

The WHO Director-General determines that the epidemic in the DRC and Uganda is a public health emergency of international concern, not a pandemic emergency, and says no country should close its borders or restrict travel and trade. Exit screening is recommended in the affected countries; entry screening for returning travellers elsewhere is not considered needed. The Emergency Committee agrees on 19 May.

Africa CDC declares a Public Health Emergency of Continental Security. The US Department of Homeland Security and the CDC announce temporary entry restrictions for travellers from the DRC and Uganda. A US doctor working in Ituri tests positive and is transferred to Germany with six high-risk contacts; he is treated at Berlin's Charité and discharged in good health on 6 June.

Africa CDC and the WHO launch a joint continental preparedness and response plan for June to November 2026, costed at US$518 million, under a 'One Response' framework with measures in 10 priority countries. The same day the CDC extends its area of concern from Kampala to the whole of Uganda.

France's health ministry reports the first imported case in Europe outside a medevac: a doctor who spent five weeks in Ituri and arrived at Charles de Gaulle on 23 June. He is isolated on arrival, treated, and discharged on 4 July after two negative PCR tests.

The WHO-sponsored PARTNERS trial opens enrolment in the DRC, testing the monoclonal antibody MBP134 and remdesivir, alone and together, in patients of any age with confirmed Bundibugyo virus disease. The WHO notes that no treatment is approved for the disease.

A second US citizen, a humanitarian worker whose positive test the CDC announced on 10 July, is evacuated to Germany for treatment. The WHO later reports him in stable condition.

UKHSA flies a UK-resident humanitarian worker out of the DRC as a precaution after a possible healthcare-related exposure. The person has no symptoms and is monitored in isolation at a London hospital for the 2 to 21 day incubation period. UKHSA: no confirmed cases in the UK; risk to the public low.

Uganda's Ministry of Health declares its outbreak over, 12 days after the last patient, an imported case, was discharged from Mulago on 16 July. The WHO's 42-day monitoring period runs from that discharge. Uganda's totals: 20 confirmed cases, 15 of them imported from the DRC, two deaths, 18 recoveries.

The WHO says this is now the largest Ebola outbreak ever reported in the DRC: 3,605 confirmed cases and 1,587 deaths as of 30 July in 49 health zones of five provinces, past the 3,317 confirmed cases of 2018 to 2020. It reports 151 health worker infections with 44 deaths and says insecurity and attacks on health facilities hamper the response.

The WHO's Technical Advisory Group on candidate vaccines recommends that Ervebo, the only licensed Ebola vaccine, be prioritised for a randomised clinical trial, and the WHO says it is working with partners to start one as soon as possible. The WHO's count: 4,665 confirmed cases and 2,184 deaths as of 12 August.

Two days after the Emergency Committee's second meeting finds the emergency continues, the International Coordinating Group releases 70,000 doses of Ervebo to the DRC: 20,000 for a Phase 3 trial and 50,000 for frontline and health workers. The WHO and Africa CDC say it is not known whether Ervebo protects against Bundibugyo virus in humans and that everyone offered it should give informed consent.

The WHO and Africa CDC welcome the end of Uganda's outbreak after 42 days without a new confirmed case; the ECDC's outbreak page dates the declaration to 25 August. Vaccination of health workers with Ervebo begins in Kisangani and other areas of the DRC. The DRC count stands at 5,794 cases and 2,786 deaths as of 26 August.

Africa CDC says the outbreak is spreading beyond its epicentre: new cases are falling in Ituri and rising sharply in North Kivu and Haut-Uélé, with North Kivu's new cases more than doubling to 381 in three weeks. Government figures: 6,843 cases and 3,310 deaths.

The WHO reports 7,890 confirmed cases and 3,799 deaths as of 23 September, a case fatality ratio of 48.1%, in 63 health zones of seven provinces. Two new zones since 11 September: Bulu in Sud Ubangi, a new province, and Dungu in Haut-Uélé on the South Sudan border, which the WHO says raises the risk of cross-border spread.

A healthcare worker in the DRC who tested positive on 29 September is admitted to the high-level isolation unit at Leiden University Medical Center. MSF says the patient is one of its staff. The ECDC calls it the fourth case imported into Europe, all linked to medical or humanitarian work, and keeps its assessment that the risk to Europe's general population is very low.

A Kenyan citizen who lives in the DRC and has been ill for about a month arrives in Nairobi on a flight from Kampala, having travelled by road through Beni the day before. Airport thermal screening does not detect him. A relative takes him to Nairobi Hospital, where he is admitted with fever, chills and bleeding under the skin and isolated.

Samples from the Nairobi patient test positive for Bundibugyo virus at the National Virology Reference Laboratory and at KEMRI on the same day. The patient dies that night despite supportive care. The WHO is informed.

Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale announces Kenya's first confirmed imported case. The patient is buried under the safe and dignified burial protocol; Kenya notifies the WHO under the International Health Regulations; 28 contacts are listed and 23 passengers and four crew from the flight are being traced. President Ruto orders an enhanced response. The WHO advises against any restriction of travel to or trade with the DRC, Uganda or Kenya.

The WHO Director-General's briefing: 8,665 confirmed cases and 4,178 deaths in the DRC; signs of slowing in some areas and growth in others; more than 600 people enrolled in the treatment trial; a vaccine trial expected to start later this month; Kenya monitoring 55 contacts; 'transparency should be rewarded, not punished'. The DRC's own report that day gives 8,728 cases and 4,205 deaths to 6 October. Duale: Kenya has an imported Ebola incident, not an outbreak.

The WHO publishes its 8 October notice: case fatality ratio 48.2%, 72 new cases a day on average, most deaths in the community, contact follow-up at 80.4%, critical funding gaps, risk very high in the DRC and low globally, no travel or trade restrictions advised. In Kenya, Wajir County's governor reports that a 20-year-old man with travel from the DRC through Uganda has tested negative. The ECDC updates its outbreak page.

The US CDC updates its count to 8,787 confirmed cases and 4,242 deaths in the DRC as of 7 October, 8,809 and 4,245 across all countries, with no US case; the overall risk to the American public and travelers remains low, and the likelihood of Ebola spreading to the United States is considered very low.

France 24 reports that tests are negative for a person suspected of having Ebola who was reportedly in quarantine at a Kenyan hospital, after about 24 hours of rumours. Contact tracing in Nairobi continues; the 21-day window for the first case's contacts runs to late October.

The US CDC continues its entry order for 30 more days; it still covers the DRC, Uganda and South Sudan, not Kenya. In Nairobi, Health Cabinet Secretary Duale's statement: all 122 contacts listed and verified, 108 in quarantine, none with symptoms; 293 samples from 289 alerts tested and only the index case positive; 667,675 travellers screened at 26 points of entry; no restrictions on travel, trade or gatherings. The DRC reports 8,978 confirmed cases and 4,336 deaths to 10 October, 64 new cases and 21 deaths in the day.

The WHO hands Kenya's Ministry of Health about US$70,000 of protective equipment, test kits and screening supplies in Nairobi and counts 127 contacts listed with 94 in quarantine. The ECDC updates its outbreak page with the DRC's count to 10 October and Kenya's 108 of 122 contacts in quarantine, and keeps the risk of importation into the EU/EEA at very low.