The Numbers Have Changed — Significantly

When we last reported, confirmed DRC cases stood at 210. As of June 1, 2026, the CDC reports 321 confirmed cases and 48 confirmed deaths in the DRC alone, according to CDC.gov. That's a 53% jump in confirmed cases.

Uganda has added 11 confirmed cases, 1 confirmed death, 1 probable case, and 1 probable death. Uganda wasn't meaningfully in the picture before. It is now.

The suspected case count sits at 116 in the DRC — but that number was recalculated on May 29 when the DRC Ministry of Health stripped out ruled-out cases from the total. The headline suspect number looks smaller now. The real outbreak is bigger.

It Reached a Capital City

The outbreak is no longer confined to remote Ituri province. Cases are now confirmed in Goma — a major regional hub in North Kivu — and in Kampala, Uganda's capital city of roughly 4 million people, according to the International Rescue Committee as reported by ABC News.

The New York-based IRC warned on May 27 that the outbreak is now "spreading faster than responders can contain it" and risks becoming the deadliest Ebola outbreak on record without urgent international action. The 2014-2016 West Africa outbreak produced more than 28,600 cases, according to CDC historical data.

Capital city exposure is how outbreaks stop being contained.

An American Is Infected

On May 17, an American working in patient care in the DRC tested positive for Bundibugyo Ebola, according to CDC.gov. The patient was transported to Germany for treatment — not the United States. CDC cites Germany's shorter flight distance from the region and its prior experience treating Ebola patients.

The patient is currently listed in stable condition.

High-risk contacts associated with this exposure have been identified and are being monitored. CDC confirmed zero Ebola cases have been reported inside the United States as a result of this outbreak as of June 1.

CDC Is Asking Its Own Staff to Volunteer at Airports

The CDC sent an "urgent request" to its own workforce asking for volunteers to staff Ebola screening operations at four designated U.S. airports, according to an internal email obtained by ABC News and confirmed by an HHS official.

The email came from the acting CDC Director. Staff across job series and pay grades are being recruited — public health advisors, emergency management specialists, and licensed medical providers.

Those four airports: Washington Dulles (IAD), Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson (ATL), George Bush Intercontinental in Houston (IAH), and JFK in New York. JFK was added to the list on May 27 by the Department of Homeland Security.

Any traveler coming from DRC, Uganda, or South Sudan must now be rerouted through one of these four airports. South Sudan has reported zero cases but is included due to shared borders with affected countries, per CDC.

The Virus Itself

This strain is Bundibugyo virus, NOT the Zaire Ebola virus most people picture when they hear "Ebola."

Bundibugyo was only discovered in 2007 and has caused just two prior large outbreaks, according to CDC historical records. Its fatality rate is approximately 30% without treatment — lower than the Zaire strain's up to 90%, but ZERO approved vaccines exist for this strain.

The 2025 DRC outbreak (a separate, now-resolved event involving the deadlier Zaire strain) killed 45 of 64 infected — a 70% fatality rate. The current outbreak involves a different, newer, less-studied virus.

Coverage and Policy Questions

The CDC travel restrictions and entry rerouting are significant federal actions that deserve scrutiny on whether they're adequate. When an American aid worker contracts Ebola and gets flown to Europe for treatment, and the CDC is scrambling its own staff to airport screening posts, this reflects questions about whether the U.S. government is positioned to handle a fast-moving outbreak that has already jumped one international border.

The UN's World Food Programme is supporting the response by funding cooked meals for patients and health workers in affected areas, according to AP News. But IRC's warning that healthcare workers lack basic PPE — coveralls, gloves, respirators — while working in an active Ebola zone demands accountability from international donors and DRC leadership.

Risk Assessment

If you're not traveling to DRC, Uganda, or South Sudan, personal risk is low, according to CDC guidance.

A disease with no approved vaccine has now reached two capital cities, infected an American, and forced the CDC onto an emergency volunteer recruitment drive. The window to contain this before it becomes a global headline is narrowing. The Kampala case count will be a key indicator.