[Correspondence] From isolation to burial: dignity in the Bundibugyo virus disease response

AI Summary

A correspondence discusses dignity and humane standards for patients isolated during the 2026 Bundibugyo virus disease outbreak, including care through discharge or death and burial. It argues that treatment centers need clearly defined, funded, and assessed obligations to patients and their families.

The 2026 Bundibugyo virus disease outbreak has renewed attention to the conditions under which patients enter isolation and families confront death and burial. Recent commentary explained why the legitimacy of isolation rests on a social contract.1 The unresolved question is more specific: what should every filovirus treatment centre be required and funded to provide, and assessed on, from admission to discharge or burial?