Ebola Crisis: MSF's Emergency Medical Response in the DRC and Uganda

On the 15th of May, the Democratic Republic of Congo's (DRC) and Uganda’s Ministries of Health declared an Ebola disease outbreak, leading the World Health Organisation (WHO) to declare a public health emergency of international concern on the 17th of May.

Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) is mobilising a major public health emergency response in Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu provinces, in the DRC's northeast.  Due to the severity of the outbreak, MSF is planning our response will last up to a year.

MSF has vast experience in responding to Ebola disease outbreaks and collaborating with Congolese and Ugandan authorities, making MSF a critical organisation in this response. Our expertise, independence, and impartiality positions MSF strongly to provide an effective medical response to contain this outbreak as quickly as possible and provide care to those infected.

MSF is only able to respond to emergencies and sudden outbreaks of diseases thanks to crucial support from people like you.

This Ebola disease outbreak has been caused by the Bundibugyo virus. The Bundibugyo virus is distinct from the more common Ebola virus (previously known as Zaire virus, that caused the 2014 Ebola crisis) in that there is no approved vaccine, and no approved treatment. Ebola is a haemorrhagic fever, and the Bundibugyo virus has a case fatality rate of between 25-40%.

The case numbers in this outbreak have dramatically exceeded the total case numbers of the previous Bundibugyo outbreaks – and is the fastest growing Ebola disease outbreak in history.

Médecins Sans Frontières is mobilising a large-scale emergency response (as at 12 June 2026)

56 international MSF staff with experience in responding to Ebola disease outbreaks have arrived in the DRC to work alongside 505 local staff. MSF Australia has sent two experienced logisticians to support the response. MSF internationally is seeking an additional 100 international staff to support our response.

MSF is responding by setting up several Ebola Treatment Centres (ETCs) in the Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu provinces of the DRC and in Uganda. These centres will isolate suspected patients and provide supportive medical care to manage symptoms and complications, test patients and classify cases, and implement infection prevention and control measures. MSF is already isolating and providing medical care to suspected cases in our existing primary health and hospital facilities.

In Ituri, at the outbreak’s epicentre in Mongbwalu – MSF is the only organisation responding alongside the Ministry of Health. We are running a 52-bed ETC and providing support to the Mongbwalu general hospital with a 16-bed isolation structure, as well as building changing areas for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to support infection prevention. In Ituri’s capital, Bunia, MSF set up a 36-bed ETC – and are preparing to increase its capacity as it was full of patients after just three days. We are also establishing and strengthening isolation units at Salama and Fataki hospitals – where MSF already provides support.

In North Kivu’s capital, Goma, MSF is operating an 80-bed ETC and have established an isolation ward in Kyeshero hospital. We are also preparing to establish an ETC in Butembo – North Kivu’s second largest city. At other MSF supported hospitals and medical facilities in North Kivu, we are establishing isolation units and integrating Ebola preparedness into existing trauma care, malnutrition, paediatric, and sexual and reproductive healthcare activities to enable the safe continuation of other essential healthcare services.

In South Kivu, we are operating two ETCs with a capacity of 20 beds, which is being expanded to a total of 57 beds. We are also establishing isolation units and preparedness measures in MSF supported health facilities.

In Uganda, MSF is operating a 32-bed ETC in Kampala that was set up shortly after the outbreak was declared. We renovated an isolation centre with a capacity of 14 beds in a city bordering DRC and are strengthening training and preparedness measures across our supported health facilities.

Essential medical supplies and equipment from MSF Supply centres are already arriving in affected areas. 17 tonnes have already arrived from our emergency stockpile in the DRC, including medicines, PPE, generators, vehicles, and solar panels. Two flights carrying MSF’s supplies arrived last week from Brussels and Bordeaux – carrying over 70 tonnes of supplies, containing medical equipment, medicines, disinfectants, hygiene equipment, and 63,000 sets of PPE for our response.

Community engagement is central to our response. Infection prevention and contact tracing only work if communities have the information and trust needed to act – and MSF teams are on the ground conducting outreach and health promotion to build that trust. We are responding to community needs by supporting safe and dignified burials to prevent transmission while respecting local customs and mourning practices, and continuing care for non-Ebola illnesses because past outbreaks have shown that malaria, measles, maternal health, and other routine care cannot stop simply because Ebola has arrived.

Ebola is not the only public health emergency in the DRC right now, and this disease outbreak continues to unfold within an increasingly difficult humanitarian environment. This is marked by insecurity, displacement, economic pressures, and strained healthcare systems. The main causes of mortality in eastern DRC remain preventable diseases such as malaria and measles, therefore our priority will be to continue to run our existing medical activities, ensuring that people have access to essential healthcare when they need it.

Our work in responding to disease outbreaks and crisis is only possible thanks to your generosity. We urgently need your support today to be able to respond to emergencies.

Your support will empower our emergency response activities – from sending international medical experts, setting up Ebola Treatment Centres, providing medical supplies and equipment, and scaling up or adapting existing projects in the affected regions.