Three Red Cross Volunteers Die of Ebola as Uganda Outbreak Expands

Three Red Cross volunteers from Congo's Mongbwalu branch died after contracting Ebola during dead body management on March 27, 2026: Ajiko Chandiru Viviane (May 5), Sezabo Katanabo (May 15), and Alikana Udumusi Augustin (May 16). Uganda's cases rose from two on May 22 to five on May 24, 2026. The WHO declared a public health emergency on May 17, 2026. The outbreak involves the Bundibugyo strain, which has no approved vaccines or treatments.

Red Cross volunteer deaths

• ▪Alikana Udumusi Augustin died on May 16, 2026
• ▪The community where the Red Cross volunteers worked was not aware of the Ebola Virus Disease outbreak at the time of the March 2026 intervention
• ▪The three Red Cross volunteers were from Congo's Red Cross society, serving in the Mongbwalu branch of the Djugu territory in Ituri province
• ▪The three Red Cross volunteers who died were identified as Alikana Udumusi Augustin, Sezabo Katanabo, and Ajiko Chandiru Viviane
• ▪Ajiko Chandiru Viviane died on May 5, 2026
• ▪Three Red Cross volunteers died after contracting the Ebola virus during a humanitarian mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in March 2026
• ▪The three Red Cross volunteers contracted Ebola while carrying out dead body management activities on March 27, 2026

Outbreak spread to Uganda

• ▪Uganda's Ministry of Health reported on May 24, 2026 that the number of Ebola cases in Uganda had risen to five
• ▪There have been 10 deaths among 88 confirmed Ebola cases, including one death in Uganda
• ▪As of May 22, 2026, there were two Ebola cases in Uganda

International response efforts

• ▪As of May 22, 2026, there were 746 suspected Ebola cases and 176 deaths among suspected cases reported in Congo
• ▪The U.S. State Department mobilized $23 million in foreign assistance for the Ebola outbreak response
• ▪An American surgeon contracted Ebola while working in Congo and was taken to Germany for treatment earlier in the week of May 18, 2026
• ▪The World Health Organization declared the Ebola outbreak in Congo and Uganda a public health emergency of international concern on May 17, 2026
• ▪Aid and personnel have been sent to Congo from the WHO, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, Doctors Without Borders, and the U.S. State Department

Bundibugyo strain characteristics

• ▪The Ebola outbreak is being driven by a strain called Bundibugyo
• ▪The Bundibugyo strain of Ebola has no approved vaccines or treatments

U.S. travel restrictions

• ▪The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued an order on May 18, 2026 barring entry to foreign nationals who were in Congo, Uganda, or South Sudan within 21 days of their arrival to the U.S.
• ▪As of May 22, 2026, there have been no suspected or confirmed cases of Ebola from the current outbreak reported in the U.S.
• ▪U.S. citizens and permanent residents who were in Congo, Uganda, or South Sudan within 21 days must enter at Washington-Dulles International Airport or Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport for enhanced public health screening