GloPID-R and its members are intensifying their coordinated research response to the ongoing Ebola Bundibugyo outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), supported by a new real-time research tracking page developed within Pandemic PACT.
On 15 May 2026, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) released a statement reporting an active outbreak of Ebola disease in the Ituri Province, DRC, followed by a statement from the WHO Regional Office for Africa on the same day. Subsequent testing has confirmed the Ebola Bundibugyo virus as the cause of the outbreak.
As of 18 May, 528 suspected cases and 132 deaths have been reported, indicating a case fatality ratio of around 23%. Two cases have been reported in Uganda in individuals who travelled from the DRC. A total of 668 contacts have been identified for follow-up in both the DRC and Uganda. On 16 May, the World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General declared the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC).
GloPID-R’s response
In response to this evolving situation, GloPID-R members held a special meeting on 21 May to review ongoing outbreaks, including Ebola Bundibugyo. Representatives from GloPID-R member organisations and partner institutions joined the discussion. A WHO representative provided an update on the latest situation, response efforts, and evolving research priorities. The meeting also included a presentation from ANRS, a GloPID-R member that leads the Filovirus Collaborative Open Research Consortium (CORC), in collaboration with Africa CDC and the WHO R&D Blueprint. The presentation outlined the objectives and structure of the CORCs and set out the next steps to identify clinical research priorities specific to Ebola Bundibugyo.
A key point of the discussion was the need to strengthen coordination, improve information-sharing, and leverage existing initiatives. GloPID-R and its members will continue working together to coordinate activities and investments, avoid duplication of efforts, and ensure that critical research gaps are addressed.
Pandemic PACT’s contribution
As part of this coordinated response, Pandemic PACT has launched a dedicated online page to track the research activities and investments of relevance to the ongoing Ebola Bundibugyo outbreak in DRC, providing real-time research data to support researchers, funders and policymakers responding to the outbreak. The data available on the Pandemic PACT has been collected and regularly updated in collaboration with the GloPID-R Research and Policy team. This new page serves as a key reference for GloPID-R members and other research funders worldwide.
The page consolidates existing data from the Pandemic PACT database on research investments as well as data from other sources. In fast-moving outbreaks, such a centralised approach is an important resource to avoid duplication of efforts, identify gaps in critical research, and avoid delays in generating the evidence needed for policy and funding decision-making.
This real-time tracking is designed to help funders and partners to:
- Identify research gaps
- Monitor progress against research priorities
- Enhance decision-making
- Improve coordination of limited research funds during emergencies.
The page also highlights ongoing actions linked to outbreak-specific research priorities and provides a visualisation of global Ebola research grant funding, showing where and how resources are being invested. A summary brief offers further detail on the current outbreak, key research needs, and the research priorities identified in the Filovirus Research and Development Roadmap.
GloPID-R’s strategic coordination, supported by the real-time data from the Pandemic PACT, helps its members and the wider research community to ensure that, in the current emergency, research funding is better aligned with the most pressing questions faced by those working on the ground.