Bundibugyo Ebola Outbreak Reaches 1,926 Cases; Record-Setting "Partners" Trial Enrolls First Patients
The historic 17th Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), caused by the rare Bundibugyo ebolavirus (BDBV) strain, has continued its rapid expansion. As of July 13, 2026, the outbreak has surged to 1,926 confirmed cases and 702 deaths, spreading to four provinces (including Ituri, Tshopo, and Haut-Uele).
In response to this escalating crisis, global health authorities and local researchers have achieved a historic clinical milestone. Just six weeks after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) on May 17, 2026, the first patients have been enrolled in the Partners treatment trial in the Ituri region. This represents an unprecedented speed for establishing clinical trials during an active epidemic.
The Partners Treatment Trial: Mechanism and Setup
The Partners trial is testing two primary investigational therapies to evaluate their ability to reduce mortality rates from Bundibugyo Ebola, which typically kills about one-third of infected individuals:
- MBP134: A monoclonal antibody therapy developed by Mapp Biopharmaceutical. It contains two engineered immune proteins designed to recognize and neutralize the Bundibugyo virus. It is administered as a single, one-off intravenous infusion.
- Remdesivir: An intravenous antiviral developed by Gilead Sciences, administered as a 10-day course of therapy.
Patients in the trial are randomized to receive either MBP134, remdesivir, a combination of both, or standard supportive care. The trial's adaptive design allows additional therapeutics to be added as they become available. It is sponsored by the WHO and funded by the Wellcome Trust, the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).
Additionally, a separate clinical trial is scheduled to begin evaluating obeldesivir—an oral antiviral developed by Gilead—as a post-exposure prophylactic treatment to prevent close contacts of Ebola cases from developing the disease.
Obstacles to the Outbreak Response
While the clinical trial setup has progressed at a record-breaking pace, the broader public health response on the ground faces severe operational headwinds. These include:
- Community Mistrust: Frontline workers, particularly those tasked with the highly dangerous job of safely burying contagious bodies, have faced physical attacks and insults from local communities.
- Funding and Payment Delays: Frontline workers in Rwampara and other regions staged protests and halted work due to unpaid wages, leaving critical response tasks understaffed.
- Logistical Constraints: The temporary closure of the local airport in Bunia has restricted the transport of physical banknotes needed to pay workers, as well as the supply of essential personal protective equipment (PPE) and transport vehicles.
"I hope these drug trials proceed quickly. Financially, we are being driven to the brink by this outbreak and nothing is going right. We are struggling to provide for our children." — Neema Haba, a mother of three and banana seller in Bunia, quoted in The Guardian
"It’s just fantastic we’ve managed to get started so quickly. If we look back at west Africa an Ebola outbreak in 2014-16 that saw more than 28,000 cases and 11,000 deaths, where it took us over a year to start clinical trials, we’re very proud of the team led by INRB [the DRC’s National Biomedical Research Institute] that we’ve managed to achieve that in kind of six weeks since the outbreak was first announced." — Prof. Amanda Rojek, international principal investigator for Partners at the University of Oxford, quoted in The Guardian