- Uganda has confirmed two new Ebola cases, bringing its total to seven, all directly linked to the ongoing outbreak in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo.
- The latest infections involve two health workers at a private hospital in Kampala, following earlier local transmissions from a Congolese man who died in a Kampala hospital.
- The outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, declared on 15 May, has seen over 900 suspected cases, predominantly in the eastern Ituri province, with response efforts hindered by community distrust and violence.
- The World Health Organisation has declared the outbreak a global health emergency and upgraded the risk of the Bundibugyo strain, responsible for the current infections, from 'high' to 'very high'.
- Scientists at Oxford University are urgently developing a vaccine, the ChAdOx1 BDBV, for the Bundibugyo strain, which currently has no approved treatment, with clinical trials potentially beginning within two to three months.
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