BUNIA, Congo (AP) — The rare Bundibugyo type of Ebola that Congo is battling took locals by surprise after weeks of spreading unnoticed. Hundr…
From
To
WASHINGTON (AP) — For more than a decade, the United States dramatically reduced its national smog levels, but since 2015 smoke from increasin…
BUNIA, Congo (AP) — Five patients have recovered from a rare type of Ebola, the head of the World Health Organization said Sunday during a vis…
WHO chief lands in eastern Congo’s Ituri province, epicenter of Ebola, as outbreak outpaces response
BUNIA, Congo (AP) — The head of the World Health Organization Saturday arrived in eastern Congo’s Bunia, a city at the heart of an outbreak of…
BUNAI, Congo (AP) — Aid supplies were rushed in to the center of Congo's outbreak of a rare type of Ebola virus as beleaguered medical workers…
The head of the World Health Organization says the Ebola outbreak in Congo is spreading rapidly and poses a “very high” risk at the national level. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced the U.N. health agency has revised its assessment of the risk within Congo from high to very high. The risk remains high for regional spread and low at global levels. He noted that 82 cases have been confirmed in the Democratic Republic of Congo, with seven confirmed deaths. There are almost 750 suspected cases and 177 suspected deaths. The situation in neighboring Uganda is stable.
A person is wearing a protective face mask in front of the WHO logo, during the media regarding the epidemic of Ebola disease, during a press conference at the World Health Organization (WHO) headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, Friday, May 22, 2026. (Martial Trezzini/Keystone via AP)
People have set fire to an Ebola treatment center in one of the towns at the heart of the outbreak in eastern Congo as fear and anger grows over a health crisis authorities and aid agencies are struggling to contain. Aid groups and experts have warned of the steep challenges in slowing the outbreak of a rare Ebola virus that spread for weeks before it was identified. It's hit a region long beset by problems of insecurity, insufficient facilities and the large displacement of people. Authorities have so far announced 148 suspected deaths and nearly 600 suspected cases, though the World Health Organization says the scale of the outbreak is much bigger.
Healthcare workers in eastern Congo say they are underprotected and undertrained as a rare Ebola virus spreads rapidly in one of the world’s most remote and vulnerable places. The virus known as Bundibugyo had spread undetected for weeks and will take months to control. So far, 51 cases have been confirmed in Congo, with two in Uganda. The World Health Organization says the outbreak poses a low global risk but that local case numbers will increase. The arrival of any potential vaccine is months away. The region faces immense pressure from conflict and a collapsing health system, stretching limited resources even further.
The risk of global spread of the Ebola outbreak in Congo and Uganda is high at national, regional levels but low at the global level, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. So far 51 cases have been confirmed in Congo in the northern provinces of Ituri and North Kivu provinces in Congo, “although we know the scale of the epidemic is much larger,” he said on Wednesday. Uganda has also told the U.N. health agency of two confirmed cases in Uganda’s capital, Kampala. “Beyond the confirmed cases, there are almost 600 suspected cases and 139 suspected,” he said. “We expect those numbers to keep increasing.”