# South Sudan issues Ebola alert after Congo and Uganda cases raise regional alarm
Event date: 2026-05-15.
South Sudan's health authorities issued an Ebola alert after new infections were confirmed in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and neighboring Uganda, warning that movement across borders could increase the chance of spread into South Sudan.
According to Radio Tamazuj, the Ministry of Health and the National Public Health Institute said preliminary laboratory tests in Congo detected Ebola in 13 of 20 samples collected in Ituri province. Genetic sequencing was still under way to identify the strain. The ministry also pointed to the scale of the outbreak, saying Congo was facing its 17th Ebola epidemic since the virus was first identified in 1976.
The numbers in the report show why officials moved quickly. The Ministry said Congo had already recorded 246 suspected cases and 65 deaths, with four deaths among the 13 laboratory-confirmed cases. The affected areas included Mongwalu and Rwampara, and suspected infections were also reported in Bunia, a city near the borders with Uganda and South Sudan.
South Sudan's concern was not just the distance to the outbreak zone, but the conditions around it. Radio Tamazuj reported that authorities cited insecurity, population movement tied to mining activity, weak contact tracing and the proximity of the affected areas as reasons the risk was elevated. In public-health terms, those are the ingredients that can turn a localized outbreak into a regional challenge.
Uganda's confirmation added urgency. The report said the Ugandan Ministry of Health confirmed an imported case of Ebola Bundibugyo virus disease in a 59-year-old Congolese man. He had been admitted to Kibuli Muslim Hospital in Kampala on 11 May and died in intensive care on 14 May after developing fever, respiratory distress, abdominal pain, nausea and bleeding symptoms. Ugandan authorities said there was no evidence of local transmission.
South Sudan said it was working with the World Health Organization and partners to strengthen preparedness, surveillance and rapid-response measures. It also told citizens to watch for fever, vomiting, diarrhea and unusual bleeding, and to report suspected cases promptly to the nearest facility or through a toll-free hotline. The advice also urged people to avoid direct contact with suspected patients, maintain strict hand hygiene, stay away from infected animals and avoid unsafe burials.
The alert is not a declaration that Ebola has entered South Sudan. It is a warning that the country sits in the shadow of outbreaks unfolding nearby. In that respect, the health ministry's message was both routine and urgent: prepare for the possibility of importation before it becomes a case, a cluster, or a broader emergency.
