Suspected Ebola cases in DRC drop to 116; Uganda reports 6 new cases

Topline

Hundreds of suspected Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo have been ruled out following investigations, the World Health Organization said in an update reported by Reuters on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Uganda’s Ministry of Health confirmed six additional cases in that country.

Timeline

June 2, 2026

• The WHO reported 321 confirmed Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo, along with 116 suspected cases—a sharp decline from over 1,100 suspected cases, according to an update from the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention published in a Financial Times op-ed on Sunday.
• Patients whose cases were ruled out had "either other diseases or have just had fever and nothing else," WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier told reporters on Tuesday.
• At least 48 people have died from the virus in the central African nation, and only six have recovered.
• Public health officials in Uganda confirmed six more cases, bringing the country’s total caseload to 15. Officials are following up with 668 known contacts of confirmed cases.
• The outbreak in Uganda has resulted in one death so far, with 12 people still hospitalized and two discharged.

June 1, 2026

• CEPI, an early investor in a COVID vaccine, told Reuters that funding will be distributed to pharmaceutical giant Moderna, a group of researchers at the University of Oxford, and the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative. All are working to develop new Ebola vaccines that could be ready for clinical trials within months.
• A patient who traveled to Italy from Congo with symptoms consistent with Ebola tested negative for the disease. The patient was one of three travelers to Italy and Brazil who alarmed health officials by showing Ebola-like symptoms.
• Hundreds of young people in Kenya protested against the United States' plan to build an Ebola quarantine and treatment center at Laikipia Air Base for Americans exposed to the disease. "This will expose our people to Ebola," one leader told the Associated Press.
• World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus stated that patients who seek healthcare as quickly as possible after symptoms appear can survive the Bundibugyo variant of Ebola, for which there is no approved vaccine or treatment.

May 31, 2026

• Two patients suspected of having Ebola in Brazil tested positive for other diseases—one for meningitis and the other for malaria. However, local health authorities warned that those diagnoses do not rule out the possibility of Ebola.
• The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention reported that suspected Ebola cases had risen to more than 1,100 in Congo and Uganda, with a suspected death toll of nearly 250.
• Ghebreyesus said five patients in Africa have recovered after being infected with Ebola.

May 30, 2026

• Kenya’s government said it would push ahead with plans to establish the Ebola quarantine center despite a high court ruling blocking the move. Kenya’s Ministry of Health stated it would help to "strengthen monitoring, isolation and emergency response capacity."
• Ghebreyesus visited Bunia, where WHO is opening a treatment center, and said in a statement he updated the prime minister on the agency’s "coordination and collaboration with multiple partners in support of the government-led response."

May 29, 2026

• Reports emerged that a Kenyan court issued an order—with no end date—temporarily suspending the Trump administration’s plan to treat American Ebola patients in Kenya.