In May 2026, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) declared its 17th Ebola outbreak. The virus responsible is Bundibugyo virus, a rare Ebola species first identified in Uganda in 2007 that has caused only two previously documented outbreaks. Within weeks, this event became the largest Bundibugyo virus disease (BVD) outbreak ever recorded, with cases reported across multiple provinces in the DRC and linked cases identified in Uganda and France.
For the Global.health community, the outbreak highlights the importance of making outbreak information accessible, standardized, and transparent. During rapidly evolving, multi-country public health events, bringing together fragmented information can help improve situational awareness and support researchers and others seeking to understand how an outbreak unfolds over time.
The Current Situation
As of July 7th, 2026, there are 1,780 confirmed cases, including 602 confirmed deaths, reported across three countries – the DRC (n=1,759 confirmed cases including 600 deaths), Uganda (n=20 confirmed cases including 2 deaths), and France (n=1 confirmed case).
The outbreak was first identified in Ituri Province in eastern DRC and has since expanded geographically. The DRC reports the majority of cases and deaths with Ituri province the most affected. Health authorities in the DRC and Uganda, supported by international partners, continue to investigate cases, trace contacts, strengthen surveillance, and implement control measures aimed at interrupting transmission.
As with any outbreak, the picture continues to evolve as investigations progress and additional information becomes available. Case counts, locations, and epidemiological understanding may change as new reports are released and previously reported information is updated.
How This Outbreak is Different
This outbreak is caused by Bundibugyo virus disease (BVD), a rare Ebola virus disease for which there is currently no licensed vaccine. As a result, rapid case identification, contact tracing, infection prevention and control, and risk communication and community engagement remain critical components of the response.
This outbreak trajectory is being shaped by political instability, displacement, violence, armed conflict, remote terrain, population movement associated with mining and trade, disease stigma, public distrust, religious practices, surveillance limitations, food insecurity, and limited healthcare capacity, among other factors. These factors influence both transmission and the ability to detect, investigate, and respond to cases.
With cases reported in the DRC, Uganda, and France, understanding the outbreak involves connecting information across multiple countries and reporting systems, an effort that remains challenging in real-time outbreak response. Global.health provides an open, standardized framework for bringing these data together, making it easier to follow reported cases, compare information across sources, and identify knowledge gaps.
How Global.health is Supporting the Response
For the current BVD outbreak, Global.health has developed three complementary resources:
The Global.health Linelist
Global.health curates publicly available case-level data from the DRC, Uganda, France and any other affected countries within a common data framework, providing a standardized, cross-border view of the outbreak [GitHub]. By consolidating information from official reports, media reports, and other publicly available sources, the linelist provides a single resource for accessing harmonized data rather than navigating multiple reporting systems independently. While publicly reported case-level information remains very limited, the linelist transparently reflects what is known while documenting important reporting gaps.
The Global.health Briefing Report
The briefing report synthesizes epidemiological trends, operational context, and data quality considerations into a single resource. By combining visualizations with narrative summaries, transparent documentation of data limitations, and curator insights, these reports help users interpret outbreak data with greater confidence.
The Global.health Map
The map provides a geographic view of publicly reported cases, allowing users to visualize confirmed cases at different administrative levels, including countries, provinces, and health zones. By displaying the geographic distribution of cases, the map helps users better understand the spatial context of the outbreak and identify emerging hotspots.
Why Open Outbreak Data Matter
Emerging outbreaks are inherently dynamic. Uncertainty is a defining feature of real-time outbreak intelligence, and timeliness, completeness, and accuracy are often competing priorities. The challenge is not simply knowing how many cases have been reported today, but understanding what is known, what remains uncertain, and how that picture evolves over time.
Open, standardized datasets support transparency by preserving a consistent record of publicly reported information across countries and over time. They create a shared foundation for collaboration, enable independent analysis, and provide a historical resource that can inform future outbreak preparedness and response.
As this BVD outbreak continues to evolve, Global.health remains committed to curating and sharing open outbreak data that improve situational awareness, foster collaboration, and help transform fragmented reports into shared knowledge.
Trusted Data. On The Dot.
Until the next post,
The G.h Team
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