Oluwatobi Adu 
Africa CDC Director General, Dr. Jean Kaseya, alongside African health leaders during a high level ministerial cross border coordination meeting in Kampala, Uganda. (Photo: Africa CDC website).
KAMPALA, Uganda – African health leaders and international partners have warned that more than $300 million may be required to contain the rapidly expanding Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak spreading across the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda.
The funding concerns emerged during a high-level ministerial cross-border coordination meeting held in Kampala on 23 May 2026 and convened by Africa CDC Director-General, Jean Kaseya.
The emergency meeting brought together health ministers from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda and South Sudan alongside officials from World Health Organization, UNICEF, UNFPA and other technical partners.
According to figures released by Africa CDC and obtained by Africa Health Report, the outbreak has already recorded 96 confirmed cases and 11 confirmed deaths across the DRC and Uganda.
Health authorities are also investigating 867 suspected cases and 204 suspected deaths as fears grow over wider regional transmission.
“This outbreak is not a DRC issue, it is a regional issue,” Kaseya said after the meeting.
“Those who believe that it is a DRC issue will be surprised, as it was during COVID. We need to take it as a regional, even continental issue, and deal with that.”
The Minister of Health of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Roger Kamba, said insecurity and weak laboratory capacity contributed to delays in detecting the outbreak.
Kamba also disclosed that the Congolese government was using diplomatic and mediation channels to maintain Ebola response operations in conflict-affected areas.
To strengthen containment efforts, African leaders endorsed a unified continental response strategy based on what officials described as “one team, one plan, one budget and one implementation model” jointly coordinated by Africa CDC and WHO.
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Hussaini Ibrahim 
Oluwafunbi Bello 
