Africa receives nearly $500 million in promised funding to combat Ebola outbreak

Africa has garnered approximately $498.8 million in pledges and commitments to bolster its response to the ongoing Bundibugyo Ebola Virus outbreak, with the aim of supporting affected and high-risk countries. This significant development was announced by Jean Kaseya, Director-General of Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, on Monday, May 26, 2026.

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Kaseya made the announcement through a post shared on X, highlighting the continent's unified stance against the outbreak, with governments and development partners collaborating to mobilize necessary funding.

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According to Kaseya, the High-Level Ministerial Meeting yielded pledges and commitments totaling approximately $498.8 million, which will be utilized to strengthen response efforts across the continent.

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The Director-General of Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention described the commitments as a resounding demonstration of African solidarity, leadership, and collective responsibility towards safeguarding the continent's health security.

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Kaseya emphasized that trust, coordination, and rapid response efforts are crucial in stopping transmission and saving lives, particularly as the outbreak continues to evolve in a complex environment.

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Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organisation, noted that the death toll linked to the Bundibugyo Ebola Virus has risen to 220, and warned that "at the moment, the epidemic is outpacing us.

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The Bundibugyo strain driving the outbreak currently lacks an approved vaccine or targeted treatment, and is considered one of the rarest Ebola species known to infect humans.

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This particular strain has only been linked to two previous outbreaks, the first in Uganda in 2007 and the second in eastern DR Congo in 2012.

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Most available Ebola vaccines and antibody treatments were specifically developed for the more widespread and deadlier Zaire Ebola strain, which caused the 2014 to 2016 West African Ebola epidemic that resulted in over 11,000 fatalities.

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Last week, Tom Fletcher, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, announced that the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has allocated up to $60 million from its emergency response fund to support containment efforts.

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This emergency allocation came five days after the World Health Organization declared the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, warning of the absence of an approved vaccine or specific treatment for the Bundibugyo strain.

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Major contributions announced during the ministerial meeting included $160 million from the World Bank for Congo, $82 million from the United States, and approximately $57 million from European partners.

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The outbreak continues to spread across parts of Central Africa, particularly in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda, with the DRC recording a total of 906 suspected cases, 105 confirmed cases, 223 suspected deaths, and 10 confirmed deaths.

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Uganda has reported seven confirmed cases and one confirmed death, with health officials stating that five of the cases have clear epidemiological links to the first two confirmed infections.