Outbreak of Bundibugyo Virus in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo suspected of killing more than 220 people.

More than 220 people are thought to have died, and more than 900 people to have been infected, in an outbreak of Bundibugyo Virus in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, according to a press release issued by the United Nations on 25 May 2025. Bundibugyo Virus, properly Bundibugyo ebolavirus, is a member of the Ebola Virus Family, Filoviridae, which causes an Ebola-like hemorrhagic fever, and is often referred to simply as 'Ebola'.

The World Health Organization was first notified of the outbreak on 5 May 2026, as an unknown illness with a high mortality rate which had already claimed the lives of four health workers in the Mongbwalu Health Zone of Ituri Province, Democratic Republic of Congo. The identity of the disease as Bundibugyo Virus was determined from samples sent to the Institut national de recherche biomédicale in Kinshasa on 15 May. 

By this time the Virus had spread to the Rwampara and Bunia health zones, also in Ituri Province, with 246 reported cases and 80 fatalities. Health workers began investigating clusters of deaths with compatible symptoms in the community. A case was also confirmed in Uganda, after an elderly man from Democratic Republic of Congo was admitted to a private hospital with severe symptoms and subsequently died. This patient was subsequently confirmed as having been infected with Bundibugyo Virus by the Central Emergency Surveillance and Response Support Laboratory at Wandegeya. His remains were subsequently returned to the Democratic Republic of Congo. A second case was reported in Uganda on 16 May, this time a Ugandan national who had recently returned from Democratic Republic of Congo. This patient is being treated in Uganda; no transmission of the Virus in Uganda has been reported. 

Health Zones affected by Bundibugyo Virus Disease in Democratic Republic of Congo, as of 16 May 2026. World Health Organization.

By 21 May the outbreak had spread to North Kivu and South Kivu provinces, with 746 suspected cases and 176 deaths thought to have been caused by Bundibugyo Virus, although only 85 cases, including ten fatalities have been confirmed by laboratory analysis. No further cases had been reported in Uganda, but an American national who had been working as a surgeon in Democratic Republic of Congo was confirmed as having the Virus and airlifted to Germany for treatment.

Risk mapping of Health Zones in Democratic Republic of Congo as of 21 May 2026. World Health Organization.

Bundibugyo Virus was first described in 2008 following an outbreak in Bundibugyo District Uganda. Only one subsequent outbreak has been reported prior to 2026, in Province Orientale, Democratic Republic of Congo, in 2012. Thus, although the Virus is closely related to Ebola, and produces a similar disease, there has been no specific treatment developed for it, and no vaccine to prevent its spread. This has made it difficult to implement an effective treatment and containment program against a disease with a 30% fatality rate.

Ituri Province is located in the northeast of Democratic Republic of Congo, with borders with Uganda and South Sudan. It has a large, if generally informal, mining sector, which attracts workers from neighbouring provinces and countries. The infrastructure of Ituri Province is generally weak, with healthcare services largely dependent on support by aid programs run by western countries, particularly the United States. These programs have been cut heavily by the current US administration, further weakening healthcare provision.

To make matters worse, a long running conflict in the province has seen an upsurge in violence since December 2025, with fighting between the Convention for the Popular Revolution and the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo leading to at least 40 people being killed and around 100 000 being displaced. The Convention for the Popular Revolution is one of several rebel groups active in the region, and has been accused by the Congolese Government of forcibly recruiting child soldiers and being a front for the Ugandan and/or Rwandan governments to exploit the regions mineral wealth. Nevertheless, the Convention for the Popular Revolution has sometimes worked alongside the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Ugandan Army to fight against other groups, notably the Allied Democratic Forces, a group thought to be allied to Islamic State.

Unloading supplies for the isolation and treatment tents at the Bunia Referral Hospital, Ituri Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo, May 2026. World Health Organization.

All of this has made it extremely difficult to implement effective track-and-trace and treatment programs to contain the Bundibugyo Virus outbreak. To complicate things further, a disinformation campaign appears to have been circulating on social media, adding to the distrust of outsiders and officialdom in general which is prevalent in the local population, something that has led to attacks on healthcare workers and facilities. Local people have reportedly set fire to two treatment centres in which patients were being treated in isolation, following a dispute over a safe burials program implemented to prevent the spread of the disease. This involves the burial of the deceased by healthcare workers with a minimal number of people present, and goes against local customs of large funerals and ritually washing the dead by relatives. 

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Algeria, Australia, and Tunisia have all eliminated Trachoma as a public health risk.

On 23 April 2026 the World Health Organization published a press release confirming that Algeria had eliminated Trachoma, a transmissible Bacterial disease which is thew world's leading infectious cause of blindness. On 29 April a second press release confirmed that Australia had eliminated the disease. On 14 May a third press release confirmed that Trachoma had also been eliminated in Tunisia. This brings the number of countries which have eliminated the once widespread tropical disease to 31. Countries where it has previously been eliminated are: Benin, Burundi, Cambodia, China, Egypt, Fiji, The Gambia, Ghana, India, Iraq, Iran, Laos, Libya, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mexico, Morocco, Myanmar, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Togo, Vanuatu and Vietnam.

Regular examination of eyes at risk can help to reduce the incidence of communicable diseases such as Trachoma. Lily Solomon/World Health Organization.

Trachoma is caused by the Bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis, and spread through contact with mucus emitted from the eyes and nose during infection, and can be spread by Flies. Infections are most common among children, and the disease can spread rapidly in overcrowded environments, particularly where sanitation is poor and access to clean water is limited. The Bacterium infects the inside of the eyelid, causing a roughening which can in turn lead to damage to the surface of the eye. Eventually the disease can lead to the eyelids turning inwards, blinding the patient. Infections are generally fought off fairly quickly, particularly in adults, but having been infected does not offer protection against future infections, and the damage caused by each infection is cumulative. Chlamydia trachomatis is vulnerable to the antibiotics azithromycin and tetracycline.

McCoy cell monolayer micrograph reveals a number of intracellular Chlamydia trachomatis inclusion bodies; Magnified 200 times. The intracellular inclusion body represents the replication phase of the Chlamydia spp. organisms, whereupon, the reorganised reticulate body multiplies through binary fission into 100-500 new reticulate bodies, which mature into elementary bodies. Eugene Arum/Norman Jacobs/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/Wikimedia Commons.

All three countries have been waging public health campaigns against Trachoma for many decades, with recent successes in eliminating infections attributed to the adoption of the World Health Organization's 'SAFE' strategy on the disease. This relies on four pillars, Surgery, which is used to save patients sight before it is lost in advances cases, Antibiotics, which are administered en masse during outbreaks, Facial cleanliness, in which large scale public health campaigns promote personal hygeine as a way to stop the spread of the disease, and Environment, in which access to clean water and good sanitation is improved. 

Mural promoting facial cleanliness to eliminate Trachoma, at Warburton in Western Australia. Minum Barreng: Indigenous Eye Health Unit/University of Melbourne/World Health Organization.

Both Algeria and Tunisia have historically had particular problems with Trachoma in their more arid southern provinces, where access to clean water has been limited. It has been estimated that in the early and mid twentieth centuries, as much as half of the population of southern Tunisia may have been affected by the disease.

World Health Organization consultant, Mario Tarizzo, prepares to take an eye smear from a school child at Srendi on the Tunisian island of Djerba. The World Health Organization has supported long-standing efforts in Tunisia to eliminate Trachoma, a disease of the eye that can cause blindness if left untreated. Eric Schwab/World Health Organization.

In Australia Trachoma was eliminated in much of the country decades ago, but has persisted in many remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, where access to both clean water and healthcare facilities can be very limited, and not everyone speaks English as a first language. In recent years bringing healthcare to such communities has been driven by a network of Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations, which are better able to understand the healthcare needs of indigenous Australians, and deliver solutions in a culturally appropriate way.

Trachoma is one of 21 Neglected Tropical Diseases associated with devastating health, social and economic consequences outlined in the Roadmap proposed by the World Health Organization's Executive Board at its 146th session in February 2020, and adopted by the Seventy-third World Health Assembly in November 2020. This Roadmap aims to control, eliminate, or eradicate all of these diseases by 2021, in line with the United Nation's third Sustainable Development Goal: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages. The elimination of Trachoma in Algeria and Tunisia makes then the 62nd and 63rd countries to have eliminated at least one Neglected Tropical Disease since the adoption of the Roadmap.

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World Malaria Day.

World Malaria Day is marked on 25 April each year, with the aim of raising awareness of both the disease and efforts to combat it. The day was originally adopted as Africa Malaria Day in 2001, following the signing of the Abuja Declaration at the African Summit on Malaria in 2000. This was adopted as an international observance at the 60th session of the World Health Assembly in 2007.

On World Malaria Day in 2026 the World Health Organization will be launching the campaign 'Driven to End Malaria: Now We Can. Now We Must.', which marks the fact that for the first time ever, ending Human Malaria is a genuine possibility. This includes the development of vaccines for Malaria, which are now being rolled out in 25 countries, as well as the development of genetically modified Mosquitoes which cannot spread the disease, improved Mosquito nets which are infused with dual action insecticides, seasonal chemoprevention measures which are now being offered to 54 million children in countries where Malaria is endemic, a widening of access to perennial (year round) chemoprevention, and better treatments for patients with Malaria.

Official World Malaria Day 2026 logo. World Health Organization.

Malaria is caused by parasitic unicellular Eukaryotes of the genus Plasmodium, and affects a wide range of terrestrial Vertebrates. Five different species of Plasmodium can cause Malaria in Humans, with most infections caused by either Plasmodium falciparum or Plasmodium vivax. The parasites are primarily spread via the bite of the female Anopheles Mosquitoes (males do not bite), but can also be spread through blood transfusions, organ transplants, or practices such as needle-sharing.

Photomicrograph of a blood smear containing a macro- and microgametocyte of the Plasmodium falciparum parasite. Both macro- and microgametocytes are products of the erythrocytic life cycle. Within a few minutes after the Anopheles sp. vector ingests the gametocytes, microgametocytes develop into microgametes, which are able to fertilize gametes. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/Wikipedia Commons.

Malaria manifests with approximately 10-15 days after infection, as a fever, headache, and chills. Mild cases often pass soon, and can be difficult to identify as Malaria, however, more severe cases can be fatal in as little as 24 hours after the onset of symptoms. 

To date, 47 countries have been declared Malaria-free, with another 46 countries reporting less than 100 000 cases of locally acquired Malaria in 2024 (the last year for which reliable figures are available). Of those 46 countries, 37 reported less than 1000 cases, 26 reported less than 100 cases, and 24 reported less than 10.

Nevertheless, the situation is not all progress; 610 000 people died as a result of Malaria in 2024, an increase on the 598 000 who died in 2023. Four countries (Eritrea, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda) have reported the emergence of strains of Malaria resistant to Artemisinin, the main treatment for the disease. Furthermore, 48 countries have reported Mosquitoes developing resistance to pyrethroid insecticides, which are the most commonly used to treat Mosquito nets hung over beds. Many strains of Malaria have also emerged which lack the pfhrp2 gene, which is used in diagnostic kits, delaying treatment in many cases. The Mosquito Anopheles stephensi, which is endemic to India, has been spreading in Africa in recent years. This Mosquito caries Malaria, and is a preferential urban-dweller, placing many people at greater risk.

Another serious threat is a massive shortfall in funding for Malaria programs, with US$5.4 billion in funding (more than half the total) being cut in 2025, with the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and Japan all making significant cuts to their aid programs. This has served to underline the fragility of aid programs which are reliant on the good will of a small number of wealthy donor countries.

Malaria eradication programs have also stalled due to civil conflicts and natural disasters, with major flooding events, which often co-occur with Malaria outbreaks, becoming more common due to the warming climate.

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Chile officially recognised as the first country in the Americas to have eliminated Leprosy.

Chile has become the first country in the Americas to be recognised to have officially eliminated Leprosy, according to a press release issued by the World Health Organization on 4 March 2024. Chile is only the second country globally to reach this goal, following Jordan in September 2024. The conformation also makes Chile the sixth country in the Americas to have eliminated at least one Neglected Tropical Disease, joining Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, and Mexico.

Chilean flags. Mark Scott Johnson/Wikimedia Commons.

Leprosy was first recorded in Chile on Rapa Nui (Easter Island) in the late nineteenth century, with some subsequent cases reported on the mainland. The last reported case of a person becoming infected with the disease on Chilean territory occurred on Rapa Nui in 1993. However, the country has continued widespread monitoring for Leprosy, with 47 cases reported between 2012 and 2023, all of which were acquired outside of the country, and all of which were successfully treated.

Leprosy is caused by the Bacteria Mycobacterium leprae and Mycobacterium lepromatosis. It is essentially a skin disease, with the Bacteria infecting patches of skin, which can become dry and itchy, lose their pigmentation, suffer skin thickening, nerve damage, and local immune system failure, which can cause the patches vulnerable to secondary infections by other Bacteria, Fungi, and Viruses. It is these secondary infections which cause the ulceration and tissue loss associated with the disease, which can lead to shortening or loss of fingers and toes, or even facial features. The nerve damage associated with the disease can cause patients to fail to notice wounds, making them more vulnerable to infection.

Mycobacterium leprae heavy load (6+) in Ziehl-Neelsen stained slit skin smear microscopy at a magnification of 2000X. Ajay Kumar Chaurasiya/Wikimedia Commons.

Leprosy is thought to be spread by mucus droplets exposed by through the mouth or nose (which can enable it to spread among children rapidly) but not through most other forms of contact; it is not sexually transmitted, and patients with HIV do not appear to be any more vulnerable, although malnutrition may be a factor. Much of the Human population appear to be naturally immune to Leprosy, with vulnerability to the disease being genetic, and tending to run in families, which can be problematic, particularly in poorer communities where people are living in cramped conditions and have trouble accessing medicine. 

Leprosy is a zoonotic disease, with wild reserves of the Bacteria found in a number of Animal species, including Primates such as the Chimpanzee, the Sooty Mangabey, and the Cynomolgus Macaque. In Europe is thought to have been spread by Red Squirrels, which are known to be vulnerable to the disease, and which were extensively hunted for their fur in the Middle Ages. The disease is thought to have been introduced to the Americas by European settlers, but has become established in there in Armadillos, which can act as a wild vector, spreading Leprosy back to Humans.

The first effective treatment for Leprosy was developed by Alice Augusta Ball, a young researcher at the College of Hawai'i (now the University of Hawai'i), in 1915 (Ball is also noted to have been the first African American woman to achieve a masters degree in chemistry, the first African American woman hired as a chemistry instructor at the College of Hawai'i, and possibly the first African American woman to publish an article in a major scientific journal). Today it is typically treated with a combination of antibiotics such as rifampicin, dapsone, and clofazimine, with other antibiotics available if resistance to these is encountered. Such treatments can typically eliminate the disease completely, although the courses of treatment are long (6-12 months) and involves taking multiple pills each day, which can be problematic, particularly in younger children.

Alice Augusta Ball in 1915. University of Hawai'i/Wikimedia Commons.

Leprosy is still considered to be endemic to 132 countries, with around 200 000 new cases reported each year. The worst affected countries are Brazil, India, and Indonesia, each of which typically reports more than 10 000 new cases each year. Twelve other countries, Bangladesh, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nepal, Nigeria, Philippines, Somalia, Sri Lanka and Tanzania, typically report between 1000  and 10 000 new cases per year, while another 117 countries typically report between 1 and 1000 cases per year. The World Health Organization is currently working towards the global elimination of Leprosy in partnership with the Swiss drug company Novartis, which provides multi-drug therapy for the disease to patients anywhere in the world at no cost, under the Partnership to Eliminate Leprosy scheme.

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