WHO expands emergency response framework for Bundibugyo virus outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

On 18 August 2026 the WHO International Health Regulations Emergency Committee reconvened to review the Bundibugyo virus disease (BVD) outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Secretariat had classified the country’s risk as “very high” on 14 August 2026, making it the sole State Party with community transmission. WHO therefore advised the DRC to declare the outbreak a national health emergency and to activate a disaster‑management structure headed by an emergency operation centre. A single, up‑to‑date national response plan should coordinate ministries, partners and sub‑national authorities, covering community protection, enhanced surveillance, contact tracing, laboratory testing, infection‑prevention‑and‑control, case management, safe burials, essential health services, logistics and health‑workforce protection.

WHO’s updated recommendations stress integrating risk‑communication and community‑engagement activities at the lowest administrative level. Trusted channels such as local, religious and traditional leaders, as well as survivors of Bundibugyo virus disease, should be mobilised to promote early case reporting, safe burial practices and protective behaviours. Community health workers, Red Cross volunteers and other respected actors are to be trained to collect intelligence, refer suspected cases and support contact‑tracing. Simultaneously, a national register of alerts, a line‑list of suspected, probable and confirmed cases and a daily‑updated contact list must be maintained. Decentralised surveillance teams in affected health zones will conduct active case finding, investigate alerts within 24 hours and expand RT‑PCR laboratory capacity for rapid, quality‑assured testing.

The committee also called for health‑system strengthening and cross‑border safeguards. Dedicated BVD isolation and treatment units should be established near transmission zones, equipped with trained staff, intensive supportive care and protocols for safe patient transfer, ambulance decontamination and medical‑waste disposal. Safe and dignified burial procedures must involve trained, PPE‑equipped teams while allowing family participation. Health‑worker protection includes regular IPC training, provision of uninterrupted PPE supplies and mechanisms for exposure reporting and psychosocial support. To enable responder access, WHO recommends security corridors, streamlined immigration and customs clearance, and 24/7 health checkpoints on roads linking affected areas. Border measures should include exit screening, coordination with neighboring states and reporting of any international travel restrictions to WHO.