Maladie à virus Ebola (souche Bundibugyo)

The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have called for an urgent scale-up of the community-led Ebola response in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), with stronger early detection, contact follow up, access to care, support for frontline health workers and faster delivery of resources to affected communities. The call followed a joint high-level mission to Uganda and DRC on 4 and 5 August, which drew lessons from Uganda’s successful containment of local transmission, assessed operational challenges in Bunia and brought the priorities of communities and frontline responders into high-level discussions with national leaderships in Kinshasa. The mission was led by Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, H.E. Dr Jean Kaseya, Director-General of Africa CDC, and Dr Mohamed Janabi, WHO Regional Director for Africa. With visits in Kampala, Bunia and Kinshasa, members of the delegation met national and provincial authorities, response coordinators, health workers, community representatives and partners. The mission assessed progress, identified critical operational gaps and brought the concerns of affected communities and frontline teams directly to national leadership. Uganda shows that containment is possible In Kampala, the delegation engaged with national authorities and response teams following Uganda’s declaration of the end of its outbreak on 28 July 2026. Uganda recorded 20 confirmed cases and two deaths. All previously listed contacts completed follow-up. Africa CDC and WHO commended Uganda’s leadership and the work of health workers, communities and partners. The country’s experience demonstrated the importance of early detection, rapid contact tracing, coordinated national action, trusted community engagement and strong cross-border surveillance. The organizations stressed that preparedness must be maintained. Continued transmission in the DRC means neighbouring countries remain at risk and must sustain surveillance, laboratory readiness and cross-border coordination. Communities at the centre in Bunia The delegation then travelled to Bunia, in Ituri Province, the epicentre of the outbreak. It met provincial authorities, national and provincial response teams, frontline health workers, community representatives and partners supporting the response. The delegation also visited the Rwangole Ebola Treatment Centre and assessed its readiness to expand access to timely,…

Lancet Infect Dis. 2026 Jul 31:S1473-3099(26)00414-7. doi: 10.1016/S1473-3099(26)00414-7. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT The ongoing 2026 outbreak of Ebola virus disease caused by Bundibugyo virus (BDBV) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda has renewed attention to one of the least studied human-pathogenic orthoebolaviruses. Since its discovery in western Uganda in 2007, only two recognised outbreaks of BDBV had been reported, limiting opportunities to define the epidemiology, pathogenesis, diagnosis, clinical spectrum, and optimal management of BDBV or to develop species-specific countermeasures. The current outbreak, declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern by WHO on May 17, 2026, has also exposed the gap between scientific innovation and operational readiness. Although pan-filovirus diagnostics, investigational vaccines, therapeutics, and adaptive clinical trial platforms are now available, their deployment has been constrained by delayed diagnosis, limited access to species-inclusive diagnostics, insecurity due to conflict, population displacement, and fragile health systems. In this Review, we synthesise evidence on BDBV from its discovery to the current 2026 outbreak, highlighting advances in epidemiology, clinical management, diagnostics, vaccines, therapeutics, and preparedness. More broadly, the outbreak shows that scientific innovation alone is insufficient; its public health impact depends on integrated, species-inclusive systems capable of rapidly detecting, evaluating, and responding to outbreaks caused by any human-pathogenic Orthoebolavirus spp. PMID: 42537678 | DOI: 10.1016/S1473-3099(26)00414-7

Lancet Infect Dis. 2026 Jul 30:S1473-3099(26)00426-3. doi: 10.1016/S1473-3099(26)00426-3. Online ahead of print. NO ABSTRACT PMID: 42532071 | DOI: 10.1016/S1473-3099(26)00426-3

Lancet Infect Dis. 2026 Aug 3:S1473-3099(26)00420-2. doi: 10.1016/S1473-3099(26)00420-2. Online ahead of print. NO ABSTRACT PMID: 42546723 | DOI: 10.1016/S1473-3099(26)00420-2

BMJ. 2026 Aug 5;394:e100450. doi: 10.1136/bmj-2026-100450. NO ABSTRACT PMID: 42556857 | DOI: 10.1136/bmj-2026-100450

JAMA Health Forum. 2026 Aug 7;7(8):e263633. doi: 10.1001/jamahealthforum.2026.3633. NO ABSTRACT PMID: 42560702 | DOI: 10.1001/jamahealthforum.2026.3633

MedScience. 2026 Aug 6. doi: 10.1007/s11684-026-1265-4. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Ebola virus identification, but the 2026 outbreak of Bundibugyo ebolavirus disease has exposed important limitations in Ebola preparedness strategies that remain largely focused on Zaire ebolavirus. Although major advances in diagnostics, vaccines, and therapeutics have followed the 2014-2016 West African Ebola epidemic, most licensed countermeasures were developed against Zaire ebolavirus and may provide limited protection against other ebolavirus species, including Bundibugyo ebolavirus. Herein, we examine the epidemiological significance of Bundibugyo ebolavirus and review current and emerging diagnostics, vaccines, antibody therapies, and antiviral strategies, with emphasis on their species coverage and limitations. We further discuss how diagnostic blind spots and limited species-inclusive countermeasures contributed to challenges during the current outbreak. Future Ebola preparedness should adopt a broader framework encompassing multiple ebolavirus species with epidemic potential. PMID: 42560595 | DOI: 10.1007/s11684-026-1265-4