We currently face an Ebola epidemic in Africa, and it doesn’t help that health facilities are being attacked by mobs. The region where this latest outbreak occurred has long been neglected by government officials, so the increased attention has triggered hostile reactions from locals, some of whom suspect hidden motives. Yes, some believe the Ebola outbreak is a hoax, while others are secretly upset that they can't bury their loved ones. The latter is how patient zero spread this pathogen. Now, we have dozens of those infected with Ebola roaming free after fleeing these facilities (via NBC News):
Doctors operating on the front lines of the fight against Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, already grappling with shortages of basic supplies, are now also having to deal with attacks on their facilities and fleeing patients as the virus spreads rapidly.
At least three such incidents have occurred in the northeastern province of Ituri where the first Ebola cases were reported, including two at the weekend targeting the same hospital that permitted more than two dozen patients to run away.
The attacks recall the widespread violence targeting health facilities during a 2018-2020 outbreak in eastern Congo that killed more than 25 health workers.
Some were perpetrated by civilians who were angry about not being able to bury their loved ones or were convinced that the outbreak was a hoax. The influx of money and manpower into an area that had felt neglected during decades of conflict and humanitarian crisis has spurred local suspicions about the real motives for the sudden spike of interest.
A similar dynamic seems to be playing out now, said Dr. Richard Lokodu, medical director of the Mongbwalu General Referral Hospital, which came under attack first Saturday and again Sunday.
“There is denial of the disease within the population, with some members wanting to claim the bodies of suspected and/or confirmed cases,” he said.
The World Health Organization has declared the outbreak of the rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, the third-largest such outbreak on record, a public health emergency of international concern.
JUST IN: 18 suspected Ebola patients fled a treatment facility in Congo during a mob attack and are now “unaccounted for.”
— Polymarket (@Polymarket) May 25, 2026
This recent outbreak is now the third largest in history, but it’s no more contagious or deadly than other strains, and the risk of spread to the US is low (via WSJ):
What is the rare strain causing the outbreak?
Bundibugyo is one of four species or strains of Ebola known to infect humans, named after a mountainous district in Uganda where the first outbreak took place in 2007.
It has caused only two previous outbreaks and is so rare that it wasn’t included in lab tests for Ebola where the latest outbreak occurred, which delayed its identification, according to international health officials. Bundibugyo virus was confirmed when samples were sent thousands of miles across the country to a government research lab.
Is Bundibugyo virus more dangerous or contagious than other Ebola viruses?
No. The virus replicates more slowly and appears to be less deadly than the more common Zaire ebolavirus, according to studies. The Zaire strain was responsible for an explosive epidemic in West Africa in 2014 that killed more than 11,300 people—the largest Ebola outbreak in history. But the Bundibugyo strain still killed more than 30% of those it infected in the past two outbreaks.
There are no approved vaccines or treatments, which makes the outbreak that much riskier.
What are the chances that Ebola will spread to the U.S.?
The risk is low, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. U.S. officials have prohibited foreigners who have been to Congo, Uganda or South Sudan in the past three weeks from entering the country. U.S. citizens who have been to those countries are being directed to Washington Dulles International Airport and screened there, the CDC said.
Still, travelers from the region where Ebola is spreading may have already entered the U.S. in the past three weeks. The country is also expecting a large influx of foreigners to several cities, including New York, for the World Cup.
The U.S. has a network of specialized treatment centers around the country to care for patients with dangerous pathogens like Ebola and hantavirus, at hospitals such as the University of Nebraska Medical Center and Emory University Hospital. U.S. authorities evacuated an American medical missionary who contracted Ebola in Congo to a hospital in Germany with similar capabilities.
Still, that doesn’t mean we should do anything, obviously. It took two years to contain the last outbreak in the region, which was in 2018. Also, don’t travel to Africa right now.