Village Reach Ebola Updates

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the escalating Ebola virus outbreak centered in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) on May 16, 2026 by WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. Simultaneously, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has categorized it as a Public Health Emergency of Continental Security (PHECS). The outbreak has also spread to Uganda.
VillageReach has put together this update to provide information and resources to help you stay informed about the outbreak as well as VillageReach’s ongoing response.

VillageReach is currently monitoring and planning our response to the Ebola outbreak in DRC, where we have supported the government since 2015. Our immediate priorities are to:
1. Protecting frontline health workers by ensuring access to personal protective equipment (PPE)
• VillageReach has secured a commitment from Direct Relief to provide 263,000 pieces of PPE. We’re now raising funds to cover transport into DRC and delivery to affected regions. Learn more about Direct Relief’s response to the Ebola Outbreak here.
2. Strengthening cross-border surveillance and contact tracing to limit the spread of the virus
3. Engaging communities with clear, trusted information to reduce transmission and support early care-seeking
4. Strengthening the capacity of service providers on biosecurity, biosafety and procedures for collecting, managing and transporting samples related to Ebola Virus Disease (EVD).
• In Ituri, DRC, we’re supporting response efforts by transporting samples from Ebola treatment centers established at the General Referral Hospital and the Evangelical Medical Center to the National Institute of Biomedical Research laboratory in Bunia for analysis.
If you would like to support VillageReach’s response, a gift to our general operations fund allows us to deploy resources quickly and flexibly – getting support where it is needed most, when it matters most.