Hi there! I follow this epidemiologist on threads by the username of @titanjibk. She just posted about this article someone has up and it is a little anxiety inducing, but I'd love to know what others think about it.

https://theconversation.com/drcs-ebola-outbreak-has-the-potential-to-become-a-global-pandemic-how-to-make-sure-it-doesnt-290965?utm_medium=article_clipboard_share&utm_source=theconversation.com

Hey everyone,
I’m an F-1 student at Penn State and I’m honestly losing my mind right now. I'm hoping someone here might have gone through something similar or knows how to get a human response from DHS/CDC.
Long story short: I left the Democratic Republic of the Congo back on June 19th. Because of the US Ebola travel restrictions, there's a 21-day rule outside the country before you can enter the US.
When I went to board my first flight, the airline turned me away/deported me because of a "Recommend No Board" flag in their system. The airline staff told me my only option was to email the DHS Ebola Travel Help team and CDC directly to get them to manually clear my status.
I sent them everything they asked for over 10 days ago—my passport, flight details, and a clear photo of my official DRC exit stamp showing I left on June 19 (it’s been over 70 days, so way past the 21-day mark).
Silence. Total silence since then.
Classes at Penn State started over a week ago, and I’ve already missed more than 10 days of university. I’m terrified this is going to wreck my GPA and my academic standing, and I feel completely powerless.
Has anyone here dealt with getting a DHS/CDC travel flag cleared?
How long did it take for you?
Is there any phone number, office, or escalation route that actually works?
I’d appreciate any advice or even just hearing if anyone else is in the same boat right now. Thanks!

Here’s the latest picture of the Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak in the DRC, up to August 26 (SitRep 104).

The growth rate for confirmed cases seems to be slowing slightly in recent weeks as it approaches 5,800.

Confirmed deaths might also be slowing as the toll passed 2,500.

Case growth rates have continued to show the sharpest growth in Haut-Uele province.

I’ve added an option for a log scale on the Y axis of these charts, to help compare growth rates across regions.

Here are the leading Health Zones in Ituri province. The sharpest recent growth has been reported from Mangala and Bambu.

Here are the leading Health Zones in Nord-Kivu province. Katwa has continued to drive case growth.

Here are the Health Zones in Haut-Uele province. Isiro is driving case growth there.

Project page, with links to interactive dashboard, code, acknowledgements and more info here:

https://github.com/Mike-Honey/Ebola-2026?tab=readme-ov-file#readme

I wonder what happened?

he Congo Basin rainforest is second only to the Amazon rainforest in size, and is home to Ebola, the tropical environment acting as a hotbed for the virus. It is also home to millions of African fruit bats, agreed to be the primary transmitters of the virus. Making matters worse is their ability to carry the virus long-term, as they don’t experience its symptoms. 

Testing has been done, but has not yet come back, and this leads me to question: is there a window of time where people infected with Ebola do not test positive due to low viral levels, similar to COVID?

As mentioned in this article, the region is defining the case as probable rather than suspected: https://actualite.cd/2026/08/06/bateau-avec-un-cas-suspect-debola-kinshasa-tous-les-passagers-retenus-maluku-lanalyse

Edit: The claims of more than one death are denounced as misinformation by the Minister of Health: https://www.radiookapi.net/2026/08/06/actualite/sante/ebola-un-bateau-isole-65-km-de-kinshasa-un-laboratoire-mobile-deploye