CDC raises Ebola response level as DRC outbreak grows, U.S. risk low

CDC lifted its Ebola response to its highest operating level Friday as the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda expanded, but the threat to the United States remained low and no linked U.S. cases had been confirmed.

The escalation puts more staff, coordination and resources behind monitoring, case finding and support for partner governments. CDC country offices in the DRC and Uganda have been coordinating across the U.S. response, and on June 3 the State Department was working closely with CDC and local governments on a rapid international response.

The focus is Bundibugyo virus disease, a strain of Ebola circulating in remote areas of eastern DRC and Uganda. The strain has no vaccine or specific treatment, and the World Health Organization declared the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on May 17, two days after the ministries of health in the two countries announced it. CDC followed with a Health Alert Network advisory on May 19 to alert clinicians, public health practitioners and travelers.

The outbreak is unfolding amid a humanitarian crisis, insecurity, remote and densely populated areas, and heavy population and trade movement, complicating surveillance, contact tracing and delivery of supplies. On June 6, WHO put the tally at 515 confirmed cases and 91 deaths in the DRC, along with 19 confirmed cases in Uganda, two deaths and one probable death. By June 25, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control put the DRC at 1,155 confirmed cases and 304 confirmed deaths, with 385 people hospitalized in isolation.

CDC guidance lists no linked U.S. cases. Ebola spreads through direct contact with bodily fluids, not through casual contact or air. A formal U.S. risk assessment published in the May 2026 Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report concluded the risk to the U.S. population over the next three months was low.