WHO Declares Global Health Emergency Over Ebola Outbreak
ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — World Health Organization, Ebola disease epidemic An outbreak caused by a rare virus in Congo and neighboring Uganda became a public health emergency of international concern on Sunday after more than 300 suspected cases and 88 deaths.
who said epidemic It does not meet the criteria for a pandemic emergency like COVID-19 and is advised against closing international borders.
WHO said a laboratory-confirmed case was also reported in Congo’s capital, Kinshasa, about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) away. epicenter of the epidemic in the eastern province of Ituri, suggesting the possibility of wider spread. He said the patient had visited Ituri and that other suspected cases had also been reported in North Kivu province, one of Congo’s most populous regions and bordering Ituri.
On Sunday, the rebel government of Goma, eastern Congo’s largest city, said in a statement that the first confirmed case of Ebola had been detected in the city. The statement stated that the infected person traveled from Ituri province and is currently under isolation. Goma was the site of a rapid rebel offensive in early 2025, and conflict between Congolese armed forces and the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel paramilitary group displaced hundreds of thousands of people.
Rare but often fatal and highly contagious
Ebola is highly contagious and can be transmitted through body fluids such as vomit, blood, or semen. The disease it causes is rare but severe and often fatal.
The purpose of WHO’s emergency declaration is to encourage donor organizations and countries to take action. By WHO standards, this indicates that the incident is serious, there is a risk of international spread, and requires a coordinated international response.
A team of 35 experts from WHO and the Congolese Ministry of Health arrived in Bunia, the capital of Ituri province, with 7 tonnes of emergency medical supplies and equipment, the WHO Regional Office for Africa said in a separate statement on Sunday.
Global reaction to previous announcements was mixed. When in 2024 WHO declares mpox epidemic Amid a global emergency in Congo and elsewhere in Africa, experts said little was being done to quickly get supplies such as diagnostic tests, medicines and vaccines to affected countries.
One variant of Ebola is difficult to treat
Health officials say the current outbreak, first confirmed Friday, is caused by the Bundibugyo virus, a rare variant of Ebola disease for which there is no approved therapeutic or vaccine. Although there have been more than 20 Ebola outbreaks in Congo and Uganda, this is only the third time the Bundibugyo virus has been detected.
The WHO said Congo was responsible for all but two of the cases, both of which were reported in Uganda.
Bundibugyo virus was first detected in the Bundibugyo region of Uganda during an outbreak in 2007-2008 that infected 149 people and killed 37. It was detected for the second time in 2012, during an epidemic in Isiro, Congo, where 57 cases and 29 deaths were reported.
Dr. D., chief of operations at the Center des Opérations d’Urgence de Santé Publique, part of the Congolese National Institute of Public Health. Richard Kitenge recently arrived in Ituri. He said Congo had weathered previous outbreaks, although the risks were high.
Speaking to the Associated Press, Kitenge said, “We managed enough epidemics in the country without treatment. The Zaire virus we managed was also not treated in many epidemics and not everyone died.”
Conflict and migration complicate efforts
Director General of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Jean Kaseya said on Saturday that a large number of active cases remained in the community, especially in Mongwalu, where the first cases were reported, “significantly complicating containment and contact tracing efforts.”
Violent clashes with militants, some backed by the Islamic State group, as well as constant population movement due to mining both within Congo and along the Ugandan border, also pose a major challenge to intervention efforts.
Authorities first reported the situation spread of disease Friday in Ituri province, close to Uganda and South Sudan. On Saturday, the Africa CDC reported 336 suspected cases and 87 deaths in Congo.
“There are currently significant uncertainties regarding the actual number of infected persons and geographical spread associated with this event. There is also a limited understanding of epidemiological links to known or suspected cases,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
The two cases in Uganda include a person who authorities said came from Congo and died in a hospital in Uganda’s capital, Kampala, and a person who WHO said also came from Congo.
WHO said the high percentage of positive cases among samples tested, the spread to Kampala and Uganda, and the cluster of deaths in Ituri “all point to a much larger epidemic than currently detected and reported and point to a serious risk of local and regional spread.”
CDC says risk to Americans is low
U.S. health officials said the risk to Americans was low but did not directly answer questions about whether any Americans had been exposed to the Ebola virus in Africa.
The director of the CDC’s outbreak response, Dr. Satish Pillai told reporters Sunday that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was working with other health officials “to ensure that the outbreak is contained and to prevent the further spread of Ebola.”
The agency maintains an office in Congo staffed by 30 staff and is working to deploy additional CDC employees to respond to the outbreak, Pillai said.
The agency issued travel warnings Friday encouraging Americans traveling in Congo And Uganda To avoid people with symptoms such as fever, muscle pain and rash. Pillai said the CDC is also “taking appropriate measures to identify individuals with any symptoms” at ports of entry, but CDC officials did not immediately respond to follow-up questions seeking more details.
50 people died before the epidemic in Congo was detected
Kaseya said slow detection delays the response and gives time for the virus to spread.
“This outbreak started in April. So far, we don’t know the index case. This means we don’t know how big the magnitude of this outbreak is,” Kaseya said, using a term for the first detectable case of the outbreak.
The earliest known suspected case, a 59-year-old man, developed symptoms on April 24 and died in a hospital in Ituri on April 27.
The Africa CDC said 50 deaths had already been recorded on May 5, when health officials were first alerted to the outbreak on social media.
The WHO said at least four deaths were reported among healthcare workers who showed symptoms of Ebola.
Associated Press writer Mike Stobbe contributed from New York.
