Ebola viruses and Marburg are zoonotic pathogens, members of the Filoviridae family, which cause severe, often fatal illness in humans.  Ebola virus disease (EVD) first appeared in 1976 in two simultaneous outbreaks, one in what is now, Nzara, South Sudan, and the other in Yambuku, Democratic Republic of Congo. The latter occurred in a village near the Ebola River, from which the disease takes its name.  Marburg virus disease was first identified during an outbreak in 1967, when laboratory workers in Marburg and Frankfurt, Germany and Belgrade, Yugoslavia (what is now Serbia) were infected with a previously unknown infectious agent.

Since they were first recognized, these filoviruses have caused regular disease outbreaks in Africa, each affecting limited numbers of people. However, the 2014–2016 outbreak in West Africa, the largest and most complex Ebola outbreak ever with over 11,000 deaths, demonstrated that filoviruses represent a very serious public health threat.

On 20 September 2022, Uganda declared an outbreak of  Sudan virus disease (SVD) caused by Sudan virus (SUDV) after samples tested positive for Sudan virus (SUDV) following six suspicious deaths in the country’s central Mubende District.  So far, the outbreak has affected Bunyangabu Kagadi, Kampala, Kasanda, Kyegegwa, Masaka, Mubende, Jinja and Wakiso districts. The virus has spread to capital Kampala. It is the first time since 2012 that Uganda has experienced an SVD outbreak.  Preliminary genomic sequencing by the Uganda Virus Research Institute indicates that the current outbreak is closely related to Nakisamata Sudan ebolavirus strain that emerged in Luwero District, Uganda in May 2011. 

Sudan virus was first reported in southern Sudan in June 1976, since then the virus has emerged periodically and up to now, seven outbreaks caused by SUDV have been reported, four in Uganda and three in Sudan.

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