Published TUESDAY July 28, 2026: 'SILENT SURGE: Bundibugyo Ebola Threat' by ZUMA Press award winning Xinhua photo-journalist Nie Zuguo: The current Ebola outbreak is the fastest-growing on record, primarily concentrated in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where cases have surged to 3,262 with 1,437 confirmed deaths. Declared a Public Health Emergency by the World Health Organization, this outbreak reached the 1,000-death milestone nearly three times faster than the devastating 2014-2016 epidemic. Caused by the rare Bundibugyo virus and there are no approved vaccines and response teams must rely entirely on supportive care and strict isolation. Fighting involving local militias, Islamic rebels, and M23 fighters has triggered mass displacements and caused more than a dozen attacks on health workers. Deep-seated misinformation regarding isolation and safe burial practices has caused many sick individuals to avoid testing or to seek care only after becoming critically ill. The race is on to develop new vaccines and medical tools while operating under extreme security constraints in active war zones. Welcome to 'SILENT SURGE: Bundibugyo Ebola Threat'
© zReportage.com Issue #1048 Story of the Week: Published TUESDAY July 28, 2026: 'SILENT SURGE: Bundibugyo Ebola Threat' by ZUMA Press award winning Xinhua photo-journalist Nie Zuguo: The current Ebola outbreak is the fastest-growing on record, primarily concentrated in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC, where cases have surged to 3,262 with 1,437 confirmed deaths. Declared a Public Health Emergency by the World Health Organization, this outbreak reached the 1,000-death milestone nearly three times faster than the devastating 2014-2016 epidemic. Caused by the rare Bundibugyo virus and there are no approved vaccines and response teams must rely entirely on supportive care and strict isolation. Fighting involving local militias, Islamic rebels, and M23 fighters has triggered mass displacements and caused more than a dozen attacks on health workers. Deep-seated misinformation regarding isolation and safe burial practices has caused many sick individuals to avoid testing or to seek care only after becoming critically ill. The race is on to develop new vaccines and medical tools while operating under extreme security constraints in active war zones. Welcome to 'SILENT SURGE: Bundibugyo Ebola Threat'
Local people watch as medical workers in protective suits are disinfected before the burial of an Ebola victim in Mongbwalu, Ituri province, eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Ghebreyesus said that as the DRC scales up surveillance in its Ebola response, as cases are increasing rapidly.
© Nie Zuguo/Xinhua via ZUMA Press
Medical workers prepare to transfer the body of an Ebola victim in Bunia, the capital of Ituri Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The current Ebola outbreak is the fastest-growing on record, primarily concentrated in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where cases have surged to 3,262 with 1,437 confirmed deaths.
© Nie Zuguo/Xinhua via ZUMA Press
Medical workers in protective suits transfer the body of an Ebola victim in Mongbwalu, Ituri province, eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Ghebreyesus said that as the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) scales up surveillance in its Ebola response, as new cases rise quickly.
© Nie Zuguo/Xinhua via ZUMA Press
Medical workers in protective suits carry medical supplies from United Nations Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) helicopter to fight the Ebola epidemic in Mongbwalu, Ituri province, the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The number of confirmed Ebola cases in the DRC has surged to 3,262 with 1,437 confirmed deaths.
© Nie Zuguo/Xinhua via ZUMA Press
A medical worker performs disinfection spraying before burying a deceased person infected with the Ebola virus in Bunia, the capital of Ituri Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Ebola outbreak in the DRC remains in a ''very active'' phase and has yet to peak, health authorities said.
© Nie Zuguo/Xinhua via ZUMA Press
A health worker instructs a local resident to wash hands at a makeshift station outside the general reference hospital in Rwampara in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said, warning that the outbreak is driven by the Bundibugyo strain, for which no strain-specific vaccine is currently available.
© Nie Zuguo/Xinhua via ZUMA Press
A medical worker checks the temperature of a local resident as part of Ebola screening in Goma, the Democratic Republic of the Congo. As of May around 131 suspected deaths and 513 suspected cases have been reported in the latest Ebola outbreak in the central African country.
© Nie Zuguo/Xinhua via ZUMA Press
Commuters fill the streets in the downtown area in Goma, the Democratic Republic of the Congo as the Ebola outbreak spreads. The current Ebola outbreak is the fastest-growing on record.
© Nie Zuguo/Xinhua via ZUMA Press
Workers transport epidemic prevention and control supplies in Bunia of Ituri Province, the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The number of suspected Ebola cases in the DRC has surpassed 1,000 as the latest outbreak continues to spread across eastern provinces, according to the country's Ministry of Health.
© Nie Zuguo/Xinhua via ZUMA Press
World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General TEDROS ADHANOM GHEBREYESUS (C) arrives in Bunia, the capital of Ituri Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Tedros called on countries that have imposed travel bans or closed borders in response to the Ebola outbreak in the DRC and Uganda to reconsider such measures.
© Nie Zuguo/Xinhua via ZUMA Press
A researcher works inside the Viral Hemorrhagic Fever Laboratory at the Uganda Virus Research Institute in Entebbe. Uganda has officially declared an end to its localized Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak on July 28, 2026, after successfully passing the mandatory 42-day monitoring period with no new cases. Yet in the DRC cases are stilll on the rise.
© Nie Zuguo/Xinhua via ZUMA Press
Family members celebrate after a relative was declared cured of Ebola in Goma, the Democratic Republic of the Congo. A patient infected with Ebola virus disease was discharged from hospital in Goma, in the eastern DRC, after being declared recovered by medical teams. Neighboring Uganda officially declared an end to its Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak on July 28, 2026, after successfully passing the mandatory 42-day monitoring period with no new cases. Yet cases are still on the rise in DRC.
© Nie Zuguo/Xinhua via ZUMA Press
Medical workers wearing protective gear clean up at an Ebola treatment center in Goma, the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In early June DR Congo's Ebola cases hit 363, as Uganda reports 4 recoveries.
© Nie Zuguo/Xinhua via ZUMA Press
Local residents wash hands under the instruction of medical workers in Goma, the Democratic Republic of the Congo. in early May around 131 suspected deaths and 513 suspected cases have been reported in the latest Ebola outbreak in the DRC local Health Minister Roger Kamba said.
© Nie Zuguo/Xinhua via ZUMA Press
The displacement camp near Bunia, capital of Ituri, the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Overcrowding and poor sanitation in displacement camps in the DRC are heightening the risk of Ebola transmission. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that more than 270,000 people, mostly women and children, escaping regional conflict are sheltering in over 60 sites across the province of Ituri, many of which lack adequate access to water, sanitation and health services.
© Nie Zuguo/Xinhua via ZUMA Press
Medical workers at an Ebola treatment center in Mongbwalu, Ituri province, the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The number of confirmed Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has surged to 3,262 with 1,437 confirmed deaths, according to the latest situation report released the country's health authorities.
© Nie Zuguo/Xinhua via ZUMA Press
Medical workers bury a deceased person in accordance with epidemic prevention protocols in Bunia, the capital of Ituri Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Ebola outbreak in the DRC remains in a 'very active' and cases have surged to 3,262 with 1,437 confirmed deaths, health authorities said.
© Nie Zuguo/Xinhua via ZUMA Press
An aerial drone view of a burial at a cemetery near Bunia, Ituri Province, the Democratic Republic of the Congo.. The current Ebola outbreak is the fastest-growing on record, primarily concentrated in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where cases have surged to 3,262 with 1,437 confirmed deaths.
© Nie Zuguo/Xinhua via ZUMA Press
