The World Health Organization (WHO) has officially declared the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), following reports of 516 suspected cases and 131 suspected deaths linked to the Bundibugyo strain of the virus.1
Contribution of altona Diagnostics
altona Diagnostics provides two solutions for the detection of the current Bundibugyo virus variant:
For detection: The RealStar® Filovirus Screen RT-PCR Kit 1.0, available as CE-IVD marked and as a RUO (research use only) version
For typing: The RealStar® Filovirus Type RT-PCR Kit 2.0, available as a RUO (research us only) version
Evidence sources for Bundibugyo virus detection by altona kits
Both altona Diagnostics kits are detecting the Bundibugyo virus as the following sources confirm:
A published evaluation of RealStar® reverse transcription-PCR kits for filovirus detection showed that the RealStar® filovirus screen kit detects all human-pathogenic filoviruses tested, including Ebola virus, Sudan virus, Tai Forest virus, Bundibugyo virus, Reston virus, and Marburg virus, with good analytical sensitivity when used on appropriate real-time PCR platforms.2
In addition, it was confirmed by an article that the RealStar® Filovirus Screen RT-PCR Kit 1.0 was used at Institut National de la Recherche Biomédicale (INRB) in Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of the Congo) in May 2026, and that it detected the currently circulating Bundibugyo virus variant in clinical samples.3 The article with the title “Initial genomes from May 2026 Bundibugyo Virus Disease Outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda” has been published by Placide Mbala. Mbala wrote: “On 14 May 2026, 13 samples (11 whole blood, 1 serum and 1 oro-pharyngeal swab) were tested at INRB, Kinshasa … using the Altona RealStar Filovirus Screen RT-PCR kit 1.0 (a pan Ebola- and Marburgvirus specific RNA detection kit). … Eight out of thirteen RNA samples were tested positive for Ebola virus by the used real-time PCR (Altona RealStar Filovirus Screen).”
altona shipments of filovirus kits
altona Diagnostics is able to deliver its filovirus products into the DRC and Uganda. Either directly or under coordination by governmental or non-governmental organizations like WHO or ASLM (African Society for Laboratory Medicine). Furthermore, we have local African distributors who already ordered the altona products and can supply laboratories in their markets directly. All our shipments containing filovirus assays are export controlled.
Additional product shipments are being sent to several institutes for tropical medicine worldwide to ensure readiness for the rapidly evolving situation. Julia Narayanan, Head of Customer Care at altona Diagnostics, confirms: “Many organizations and partners have already reached out to us, and we are doing everything we can to support them in their response to the outbreak.”
Resources
- WHO: Ebola Bundibugyo virus disease outbreak Democratic Republic of Congo | Uganda
https://iris.who.int/server/api/core/bitstreams/b6e1e783-91c3-43c8-ab90-16ceaa9948f0/content - Evaluation of RealStar Reverse Transcription–Polymerase Chain Reaction Kits for Filovirus Detection in the Laboratory and Field
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5050472/ - Initial genomes from May 2026 Bundibugyo Virus Disease Outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda
https://virological.org/t/initial-genomes-from-may-2026-bundibugyo-virus-disease-outbreak-in-the-democratic-republic-of-the-congo-and-uganda/1032
