There is a particular kind of complacency that sets in when a disaster is happening somewhere else. We watch it on the news, we feel something, and then we move on. However, we simply cannot afford to look away from the Ebola outbreak, which appears to be gathering momentum in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
In May 2026, an Ebola epidemic was confirmed in the Ituri Province of that Central African country. It is the 17th recorded Ebola outbreak in the DRC since the virus was first identified in 1976, and it came only five months after the previous outbreak ended. The strain responsible is the Bundibugyo ebolavirus. It is rarer than the Zaire strain most people associate with the disease and, in some ways, more complicated to fight. As of 31 May, the DRC Ministry of Health reported 282 confirmed cases and 42 confirmed deaths, with a further 220 suspected cases still under investigation. Uganda had confirmed nine cases and one death; at least three of them were linked to travel from the DRC. The numbers are increasing, and experts are emphatic that official figures in the middle of an active outbreak almost always undercount reality.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has not in any way tried to underplay what is happening. Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called the situation a “catastrophic collision of disease and conflict”. He has warned that attacks on health facilities, insecurity, and mass displacement were making it “nearly impossible” to trace contacts and isolate cases. Contact tracing is at the core of Ebola containment. When it breaks down, the virus finds space to move and move fast.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has placed Nigeria formally on high alert. It is a warning that the risk of importing the Ebola virus is elevated due to heightened regional transmission, international travel and cross-border population movement. The agency classified Lagos, the FCT, Rivers, Kano, Enugu, Borno, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Taraba, and Adamawa as high-risk states. This is because of their international airports, porous borders, and active trade or travel routes. Undoubtedly, these are where most Nigerians live, work, buy, sell, and move through every day. The risk is not theoretical, and the geography makes that clear.
Now, there is one detail about this specific outbreak that Nigerian health authorities have been upfront about. The Bundibugyo Ebola virus disease currently has no approved vaccine or specific treatment, making early public health intervention the only effective defence. Existing Ebola vaccines target the Zaire strain and cannot be relied upon for the present outbreak. What we have is behaviour, information, and speed of detection. All three depend heavily on what ordinary or average Nigerians choose to do under the current circumstances.
The truth is that Ebola is not a disease that requires mystery to spread. It is not airborne and spreads mainly through direct contact with infected blood, body fluids, contaminated surfaces, or infected animals. You cannot catch it by sitting near someone on a bus. It enters through broken skin or mucous membranes, and it requires close physical contact with a sick or deceased person. This is why burials are a route: the bereaved usually embrace the bodies of their loved ones without knowing the risk they are toying with.
