Why new Ebola strain is named after Bundibugyo district

The new Ebola strain now causing concern in the region is named after Bundibugyo, a mountainous district in western Uganda near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The district is known for its steep hills, valleys and cocoa farming communities, not disease. That is why some Ugandans have pushed back against its renewed association with Ebola.

The name came from a 2007 outbreak in Bundibugyo District. Scientists later confirmed that the outbreak was caused by a new species of Ebola virus. It was not the Sudan virus, named after the area in present-day South Sudan where that strain was first identified. It was also not the Zaire strain, named after the former name of the Democratic Republic of Congo. 

The 2007 outbreak in Bundibugyo killed at least 37 people before health teams contained it by the end of that year. A second smaller outbreak of the Bundibugyo virus was later recorded in northeastern Congo in 2012. 

Since Ebola virus species have often been named after the places where they were first identified, the western Uganda district became linked to the virus. This naming pattern also explains why other Ebola strains carry names such as Sudan and Zaire.

But many Ugandans now feel the name unfairly stigmatises a beautiful district. 

Government spokesman Alan Kasujja has urged global health authorities to clarify that Uganda is not the centre of the current outbreak. He wrote on X that “Bundibugyo is too beautiful to be the name of a disease.” 

The current outbreak is mainly on the Congo side. The World Health Organisation said it was alerted on May 5, 2026, about a high-mortality outbreak of unknown illness in Mongbwalu Health Zone in Ituri Province. Laboratory tests later confirmed Bundibugyo virus disease in samples analysed by Congo’s national biomedical research institute. 

WHO has raised the national risk level in Congo to “very high,” with confirmed and suspected cases under investigation. The Guardian also reported that suspected cases had risen sharply within a week, while suspected deaths had also increased. 

Health experts consider the Bundibugyo virus dangerous because it remains less studied than other Ebola strains. Available Ebola vaccines and treatments do not work for Bundibugyo patients, making contact tracing, isolation and protective equipment for health workers more important. 

Uganda has dealt with several Ebola outbreaks before, including the 2000 outbreak that killed more than 200 people and the 2022 outbreak that killed at least 55 people. That experience explains why health officials are focusing on surveillance at border points and rapid tracing of contacts.