Russia has delivered about 7,000 Ebola diagnostic test kits to Africa in response to the ongoing outbreak of the Bundibugyo strain of the virus in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), according to the Federal Service for the Oversight of Consumer Protection and Welfare Rospotrebnadzor.
The PCR-based kits, developed specifically for the Bundibugyo Ebola strain, were reportedly designed and put into production within four days.
Rospotrebnadzor said the tests were among the earliest rapid diagnostic tools deployed for the current outbreak and have been validated through field and laboratory evaluations, including comparative trials with other internationally used kits.
The consignment has been distributed to Uganda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Republic of the Congo, the agency confirmed.
It also said more than 20 Ugandan laboratory specialists and health workers have received training in diagnostics and outbreak response as part of the cooperation effort.
The deployment comes as health authorities in Uganda and the DRC report a combined 827 confirmed cases and 194 deaths linked to the Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak as of mid-June 2026.
The outbreak has spread across border communities, with the majority of cases reported in the DRC and a smaller cluster in Uganda.
Despite the scale of infections, Ugandan authorities say transmission within the country has slowed significantly, with no new locally transmitted cases reported for more than 10 days.
Uganda’s Ministry of Health says most confirmed cases in the country have involved Congolese nationals who sought treatment across the border. The country has recorded seven recoveries, ten patients remain under care, and two deaths have been confirmed.
The Director General of Health Services, Dr. Charles Olaro, has urged continued public vigilance, calling for strict hand hygiene and early reporting of symptoms such as high fever, vomiting, and unexplained bleeding.
A joint scientific investigation by Uganda’s Ministry of Health and the DRC’s Institut National de Recherche Biomédicale (INRB) has meanwhile concluded that the current outbreak is the result of a fresh spillover from wildlife into humans, rather than continued undetected human-to-human transmission or a lingering outbreak from previous years.
The study, which researchers say has been published in Nature Medicine, found that the current virus is genetically distinct from earlier Bundibugyo outbreaks recorded in Uganda in 2007 and in the DRC in 2012.
The findings suggest that the virus has independently re-emerged from an unknown animal reservoir, although scientists say the exact source has not yet been identified. Researchers involved in the study noted that the results are important for improving diagnostic accuracy and strengthening outbreak surveillance systems across the region.
Dr. Atek Kagirita, a senior Ministry of Health outbreak response official involved in the study, emphasized that the Bundibugyo strain’s naming does not imply geographic transmission links between populations in Bundibugyo and neighbouring regions of the DRC, adding that the origin of the current spillover remains under investigation.
While Uganda’s situation appears to be stabilizing, regional health authorities continue to warn that cross-border movement and undetected transmission in wildlife-exposed communities remain key risks as surveillance, laboratory testing, and emergency response operations continue across affected countries.