Emergency Use Listing

WHO added the first molecular diagnostic for Bundibugyo virus to its Emergency Use Listing on 2 July 2026, the first BDBV-specific test ever listed. Testing capacity across the affected DRC provinces has risen from roughly 200-400 tests a day at two facilities to more than 2,000 a day across ten laboratories.

EUL is WHO's regulatory route for using an unlicensed medical product during a declared public-health emergency, once WHO has independently vetted its quality, safety and performance. It does not replace national regulatory approval, but it lets WHO and partner agencies procure and deploy a product immediately, shrinking the gap between a laboratory breakthrough and a syringe or swab reaching a rural clinic. It was the standard vehicle for fast-tracking COVID-19 vaccines and rapid tests, and mpox vaccines during the 2022-2023 emergency. A listing lapses once WHO declares the emergency over, at which point continued sales require separate national licensure.

For Bundibugyo, a species with no approved vaccine or treatment, EUL is currently the only route by which any new diagnostic or therapeutic tool can reach patients this year. The mechanism's value is most visible in health systems that lack the capacity to run their own rapid national approval process, which is why it remains WHO's default lever whenever a laboratory breakthrough needs to reach an active outbreak fast.