SOUTH AFRICA PERSPECTIVE

Pretoria, May 17, 2026. The World Health Organization declared on Sunday the Ebola epidemic affecting the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda as a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC). According to data from the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), 336 suspected cases and 87 deaths had been recorded Saturday, figures rising to more than 300 confirmed cases and 88 deaths at the time of the UN declaration.

The epicenter of the outbreak is located in the eastern Ituri province of the DRC, a border zone shared with Uganda and South Sudan. This geographic context directly concerns capitals in East and southern Africa: contagion does not respect administrative lines, and population flows in this region remain intense despite military tensions linked to the M23 militia, backed by Kigali.

The virus in question is the Bundibugyo virus disease (BVD), a rare variant of the Ebola family and only the third documented occurrence in history. An aggravating factor: no approved treatment or vaccine exists for this specific strain. The WHO further acknowledges that the true scope of the epidemic could be underestimated, given the high positivity rate of initial samples and rapid progression in the number of suspected cases reported.

The situation in Goma, the major city in eastern Congo under M23 control, crystallized regional fears. A laboratory-confirmed case was detected there on Sunday, which led the Al Jazeera correspondent on the ground to describe this discovery as retroactive justification for preventive measures taken by Kigali, including border closure with the DRC. The presence of the virus in an urban center of this density illustrates the risk of rapid dissemination.

In Uganda, two cases have been confirmed in Kampala. Ugandan health authorities indicate that both patients, either deceased or under care, had traveled from the DRC and that the two cases appear unrelated. President Yoweri Museveni stated that "the situation is under control" and there is "no cause for alarm," while specifying that the border with the DRC had not been closed, but that reinforced controls were in place at health facilities, including fever screening, disinfection, and mask distribution.

The WHO has called on neighboring countries to activate their national disaster and emergency management mechanisms and implement health controls at border crossing points. This directive targets Central and East African states directly, but the signal is also received in Johannesburg and Pretoria, whose transport networks and commercial ties with the region place them within the zone of vigilance.