Country: Democratic Republic of the Congo Source: International Medical Corps Please refer to the attached file. FAST FACTS • The World Health Organization has declared the Ebola Bundibugyo outbreak in the DRC and Uganda a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. • As of May 19, the DRC has reported more than 500 suspected cases and at least 130 deaths. • Uganda has confirmed two cases, including one death. OUR RESPONSE • International Medical Corps teams are in Ituri, the epicenter of the outbreak in DRC, and in Goma (along the Rwanda/DRC border), where cases have also been reported. • International Medical Corps also has a Rapid Response Team in Uganda supporting that country’s response. • International Medical Corps teams in South Sudan are coordinating closely with the Ministry of Health to support readiness efforts. The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the current outbreak of Ebola virus disease (EVD) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), signaling that this outbreak has potential global consequences. First confirmed in Ituri province after several weeks of undetected transmission, the outbreak has already spread across key areas of eastern DRC and into Uganda, with two confirmed cases in Kampala. In South Sudan, where geographic proximity and population movements across a shared border with DRC increase the risk of transmission, the Ministry of Health (MoH) has launched preparedness efforts. As of May 19, the DRC has reported more than 500 suspected cases and at least 130 deaths. In Uganda, authorities have confirmed two cases in Kampala, including one death. The current hotspot remains Ituri province, particularly Rwampara, Mongbwalu, Nyakunde and Bunia, where the outbreak appears to have started as a family cluster, followed by health-facility transmission and then wider community spread. The combination of delayed detection, incomplete contact tracing, mining-related mobility of community members, insecurity and the large number of informal health providers suggests that the actual scale of transmission may be greater than currently detected. The outbreak is especially concerning because it is caused by the Bundibugyo strain, for which there are currently no approved vaccines or therapeutics. Response efforts therefore have to rely heavily on rapid surveillance, contact tracing, testing, infection prevention and control (IPC) measures, supportive clinical care, risk communication and community engagement, and strong cross-border coordination. The operating environment in eastern DRC is highly fragile, and health facilities in the affected areas are under severe strain. IPC readiness remains critically low, with assessments showing only 34% coverage at Mongbwalu General Referral Hospital and less than 7% in other facilities. There are serious shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE), IPC materials, trained staff, triage capacity, isolation space and sample transport capacity. At least four healthcare worker deaths have been reported in the affected area, underscoring the risk of healthcare-associated transmission as well as the importance of PPE and adherence to protective measures for care providers. This outbreak both compounds and emphasizes severe pre-existing humanitarian needs. In Ituri, more than 1.9 million people were already in need of humanitarian assitance before the outbreak, including more than 923,000 internally displaced people. In North Kivu, chronic conflict, displacement and recurrent outbreaks have already left approximately 2.5 million people in North Kivu in need of humanitarian health assistance.