Email: communications@africacdc.org
Status: Interim Guidance.
Date Issued: 9 June 2026.
Epidemiological Cut-off: 8 June 2026, 18:00 EAT.
Prepared by: Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).
Basis: Latest available Africa CDC and national Ministry of Health situation reports.
Review: To be updated based on evolving epidemiological data.
Implementing blanket travel restrictions or bans in response to the current Bundibugyo Ebola virus disease outbreak is not supported by public health evidence and could undermine both national and global health security goals. Countries are advised to adopt evidence-based, risk-based measures that help control the outbreak while allowing essential travel, trade, and humanitarian activities to continue. Past experiences from Ebola outbreaks in West Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and Uganda have shown that travel bans offer little additional public health benefit beyond targeted risk management. Such restrictions can cause unintended harm by hindering response efforts, discouraging timely and transparent reporting, and impeding the movement of healthcare workers, emergency supplies, laboratory samples, and other vital resources needed for effective response. These disruptions can prolong outbreaks and raise the risk to global health. Moreover, blanket restrictions impose significant economic and social costs, affecting livelihoods in affected countries and the wider region.
According to current epidemiological data, as of June 8, 2026, based on available Africa CDC and national Ministry of Health situation reports, only a few affected provinces in the DRC and Uganda (specifically Ituri, South Kivu, and North Kivu in the DRC, and Kampala in Uganda) have reported Ebola cases. Robust response efforts are ongoing in the region, coordinated by the continental Incident Management Support Team (IMST). No other African countries have reported any Ebola cases. With effective screening and preventive measures at points of entry and exit, countries can reduce the risk of importation and onward transmission of Ebola virus. Moreover, Ebola virus disease is primarily transmitted through direct contact with bodily fluids of an infected person, contaminated materials, or infected animals. It is not an airborne disease and does not spread through casual contact. The risk of international transmission remains low when surveillance, case detection, contact tracing, infection prevention and control measures, and traveler screening systems are in place.
