Uganda Confirms Marburg Death in Toddler as Ebola Outbreak Spreads to New DRC Provinces

Since Uganda and the DRC jointly declared the Ebola Bundibugyo outbreak on May 15, the crisis has grown into the third-largest Ebola outbreak on record. As of July 2, the DRC is reporting 1,406 confirmed cases and 438 deaths, according to Africa CDC. Uganda has recorded 20 Ebola cases and two deaths.

Now Uganda has a second hemorrhagic fever to manage.

What Happened in Kyegegwa

On June 30, Uganda notified the World Health Organization of a single confirmed Marburg virus case, according to WHO. Africa CDC confirmed the case involved an 18-month-old child who died in Kyegegwa district in western Uganda. Africa CDC spokesperson Saran Koly told Reuters that no contacts of the child had developed symptoms and that there is currently no active Marburg case in the country.

Marburg is closely related to the Ebola family of viruses. It causes the same kind of hemorrhagic fever, spreads through the same routes, and requires the same containment steps. There is no approved vaccine for Marburg, a fact CIDRAP noted specifically.

The Transparency Problem

When Reuters contacted Uganda's health ministry after Africa CDC's confirmation, a ministry spokesperson said he was not aware of a Marburg outbreak. Africa CDC is publicly confirming a case while the country's own health ministry claims ignorance of it.

The U.S. Embassy in Uganda issued a health alert on June 29, a day before WHO was formally notified, saying it was aware of a potential case. The embassy had already issued a Level 4 "do not travel" advisory for Uganda on June 4, citing crime, health, terrorism, and unrest in the wake of the WHO declaring Ebola Bundibugyo a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on May 17.

An anonymous source described by Stat News as well-placed told the outlet that Uganda had actually detected two Marburg cases as of Monday, not one. Stat also reported that concerns about travel restrictions and the impact on Uganda's tourism industry may be driving the country's reluctance to disclose information. Africa CDC's Koly addressed the question of additional cases directly, telling Reuters: "At this stage, we cannot confirm reports of any additional case."

Health Policy Watch noted that Uganda is legally obligated to report Marburg under International Health Regulations, which makes the health ministry's public posture harder to reconcile with Africa CDC's confirmation.

The strongest case for Uganda's caution is a real one: premature or ambiguous disclosures during an active outbreak can trigger panic, erode public cooperation, and cause economic damage that outlasts the disease itself. Uganda has managed four previous Marburg outbreaks, including one in 2017, and its public health system has genuine experience with containment. Officials may be waiting for verification before making statements they cannot walk back. That argument deserves to be heard. It does not, however, explain why the ministry denied awareness of a case that Africa CDC and WHO were already discussing publicly.

The Ebola Front Is Expanding Too

While Marburg grabs attention, the Ebola situation in the DRC is getting more complicated geographically. According to CIDRAP, health authorities are now tracing potential exposure in two previously unaffected provinces: Tshopo and Haut-Uele.

In the Tshopo situation, a pregnant woman died of Ebola in Ituri province on June 27 and her body was transported roughly 186 miles by motorcycle to the city of Kisangani before anyone knew she was infected. Authorities are now tracing everyone who may have come into contact with that body.

In Haut-Uele, two contacts of Ebola patients who had been isolated for testing in Ituri fled the province. One tested positive for Ebola. Both were returned to Ituri while contact tracing efforts spread into a province that also borders South Sudan and the Central African Republic.

Health Policy Watch flagged a local discrepancy: while Africa CDC stated all of Uganda's Ebola cases stem from the DRC, Ugandan newspaper Monitor reported that five of those cases involved local transmission. That detail has not been independently verified in other sources but points to an ongoing dispute over how to characterize the outbreak's dynamics inside Uganda.

No Ebola cases have been confirmed in South Sudan as of July 2, but CIDRAP reported that the International Medical Corps is supporting 80 facilities in that country, where workers have conducted more than 53,200 screenings and treated 314 patients, including 110 identified with confirmed Ebola exposure, according to a Relief Web report.

The Open Question on Marburg's Origin

Marburg is typically transmitted from animals to humans, with Egyptian Rousettus bats as a primary reservoir, according to Health Policy Watch. How an 18-month-old child in Kyegegwa district came into contact with the virus has not been publicly explained. Identifying the exposure source is the critical next step for containment, and Uganda has not yet provided that information publicly. Whether a second confirmed case exists, and whether the source is linked to the ongoing Ebola response or is entirely separate, remains unresolved as of today.