The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is currently facing a major Ebola outbreak caused by the Bundibugyo virus. The World Health Organization was alerted in early May 2026 after clusters of severe illness and deaths, including among health workers, were reported in Ituri Province; laboratory confirmation followed on 15 May 2026.1
Ebola disease caused by Bundibugyo virus presents similarly to other filoviral haemorrhagic fevers. Common symptoms include fever, malaise, weakness, vomiting, body pain, diarrhoea, and headache.1 It is transmitted to humans from infected animals and spreads through bodily fluids. Early symptoms can lead to severe manifestations with systemic viral dissemination and multi-organ involvement.
This outbreak is occurring in difficult settings marked by insecurity, population displacement, delayed case recognition, and cross-border travel, all of which increase transmission risk and complicate surveillance, contact tracing, and infection prevention. By late June 2026, DRC had reported more than 1,000 confirmed cases, making this one of the country’s largest Ebola outbreaks on record.2
The Bundibugyo virus previously caused outbreaks in Uganda in 2007 and the DRC in 2012, with case fatality rates around 30-50%.3 Research and development for Bundibugyo virus has lagged behind Zaire ebolavirus due to the smaller size and infrequency of outbreaks, limiting incentives for vaccine and therapeutic development. The current outbreak is expanding faster than the evidence base for strain-specific countermeasures, as there is no licensed vaccine or specific approved treatment for the Bundibugyo strain, making rapid diagnosis, isolation, supportive care, and contact tracing essential for containment.1
Read more about the Bundibugyo strain outbreak here: Bundibugyo Virus Disease (BVD) – Ebola Outbreak – Africa CDC
Against the backdrop of a severe and rapidly evolving outbreak, research tools that can help characterise immune responses to Bundibugyo virus have an important supporting role. Peptide pools are mixtures of short, overlapping synthetic peptides spanning part or all of a viral protein, used to stimulate immune cells ex vivo and assess virus-specific T cell responses. Because this work can be performed without live virus, peptide pools may help researchers study immune recognition, compare vaccine candidates, and explore immune correlates while reducing the need for maximum-containment handling of infectious material.
Virax Biolabs’ Ebola Bundibugyo Virus ImmuneSelect Peptide Pool is designed to support immune-response research against the Bundibugyo strain. The pool contains 58 synthetic peptides derived from the Ebola Bundibugyo virus envelope glycoprotein, combining MHC class I and MHC class II epitopes to enable assessment of both CD8+ and CD4+ T cell responses. The pool is designed to cover known immunodominant epitope regions that cross over with characterised Zaire ebolavirus epitopes, as well as Bundibugyo-specific non-conserved regions relative to the Zaire strain.
When used for in vitro stimulation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells, the Ebola Bundibugyo Virus ImmuneSelect Peptide Pool can activate antigen-specific memory T cells, supporting downstream measurement of cytokine secretion and changes in activation-associated surface markers.
View our Ebola Bundibugyo peptide pool offering: Ebola (Bundibugyo) Virus ImmuneSelect Peptide Pool Premium
