The World Health Organization (WHO) added the first molecular diagnostic test for Bundibugyo virus (BDBV) to its Emergency Use Listing on 2 July, a procedural step that enables quality-assured, rapid PCR detection of the rare Ebola strain. The listing arrives as the outbreak, concentrated in the conflict-affected eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), has expanded to more than 1,500 confirmed infections and at least 470 fatalities, with additional cases confirmed in Uganda and a single imported infection in France.

Differentiating BVD from other febrile illnesses such as malaria has been a central challenge, as no rapid antigen tests were available. The new PCR-based test, which identifies viral genetic material in blood samples, directly addresses this gap. The outbreak, first declared in mid-May, has been propelled by sustained transmission in Ituri and North Kivu, where armed groups and population displacement hinder surveillance. Of the 1,502 confirmed cases reported by Congolese authorities by 4 July, 628 people remain hospitalised; 213 have recovered. Uganda has recorded 20 cases and two deaths, while a doctor who worked in Ituri tested positive upon arrival at Paris’s Charles de Gaulle airport—the first known importation outside Africa.

Viewed from Geneva, the WHO assesses the risk as very high nationally in DRC, high in Uganda and neighbouring border states, but low globally. In parallel, Moscow has dispatched Rospotrebnadzor mobile laboratories to Uganda to identify the Bundibugyo strain and has tightened border health checks for arrivals from affected regions. Washington has requested over $1.4 billion from Congress, including $800 million for humanitarian assistance and a quarantine facility in Kenya, to bolster the US response and limit importation risk. Health workers have not been spared: 102 have been infected and 25 have died, reflecting persistent gaps in infection control within overstretched facilities.

The EUL listing is expected to accelerate case confirmation in the field, with additional diagnostic submissions under review. WHO and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention have expanded testing capacity to a network of 10 laboratories, now capable of running more than 2,000 tests daily. Yet the outbreak, already the largest recorded for the Bundibugyo strain, continues to exploit insecurity and mobile populations. The next milestone for containment will be whether enhanced diagnostics, alongside intensified contact tracing and a $1.4 billion US funding request pending in Congress, can check transmission in eastern DRC’s mining zones before the virus establishes new footholds across porous borders.