The 2026 Ebola outbreak caused by Bundibugyo virus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda has prompted European countries and the United States to revise measures for travellers, healthcare workers and humanitarian personnel returning from affected areas. We compare current procedures and protocols with those implemented during the 2013–2016 Ebola outbreak. Despite some national differences, policies have largely converged towards risk-based management, early case detection, rapid isolation, exposure-based monitoring and healthcare preparedness, rather than routine border screening.
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,
Arne B Brantsæter4
,
David Ekqvist5
,
Sabiena G Feenstra6
,
Jocelyn J Herstein7
,
David K Kayembe8
,
F-Xavier Lescure9,10
,
Agata Mikolajewska11
,
Annelies Mondelaers12,13
,
Marta Mora-Rillo9,14
,
Chantal Rovers15
,
Laura Scorzolini3
,
Corien M Swaan6
,
Francesco Vairo3
,
Erika Vlieghe12,13
,
Timo Wolf15
,
Luca Zweers16
,
Emanuele Nicastri3
,
on behalf of the European HLIU Network17
,
and of the ESCMID Emerging Infection Subcommittee18
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Affiliations:
1 Pandemic Sciences Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
2 Centre for Respiratory Infection, Imperial College, London, United Kingdom
3 National Institute for Infectious Disease Lazzaro Spallanzani IRCCS, Rome, Italy
5 Clinical Department of Infectious Diseases in Östergötland, Region Östergötland, Linköping, Sweden
6 RIVM Centre for Infectious Disease Control, Bilthoven, the Netherlands
7 University of Nebraska Medical Center, College of Public Health, Omaha, Nebraska, United States
13 Global Health Institute, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium
14 High Level Isolation Unit, La Paz University Hospital, IdiPAZ, CIBERINFEC, Madrid, Spain
16 Department of Internal Medicine, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
17 European High-Level Isolation Units (HLIU) Network, Europe
Correspondence:
Erica Binetti
erica.binetti inmi.it
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Citation style for this article: Dunning Jake, Binetti Erica, Brantsæter Arne B, Ekqvist David, Feenstra Sabiena G, Herstein Jocelyn J, Kayembe David K, Lescure F-Xavier, Mikolajewska Agata, Mondelaers Annelies, Mora-Rillo Marta, Rovers Chantal, Scorzolini Laura, Swaan Corien M, Vairo Francesco, Vlieghe Erika, Wolf Timo, Zweers Luca, Nicastri Emanuele, on behalf of the European HLIU Network, and of the ESCMID Emerging Infection Subcommittee. Screening and monitoring of travellers returning from countries affected by Bundibugyo virus: an overview of European approaches, July 2026 . Euro Surveill. 2026;31(28):pii=2600578. https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2026.31.28.2600578 Received: 08 Jul 2026; Accepted: 16 Jul 2026
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The 2026 Ebola outbreak caused by Bundibugyo virus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda has prompted European countries and the United States to revise measures for travellers, healthcare workers and humanitarian personnel returning from affected areas. We compare current procedures and protocols with those implemented during the 2013–2016 Ebola outbreak. Despite some national differences, policies have largely converged towards risk-based management, early case detection, rapid isolation, exposure-based monitoring and healthcare preparedness, rather than routine border screening.

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