WHO massively scales back number of suspected Ebola cases in Congo
Ebola outbreak may have been spreading since early January 02:04
The United Nations World Health Organization significantly reduced the number of suspects on Tuesday Ebola cases in Central AfricaWhile a total of 330 cases were confirmed, the number dropped from over 900 to 116.
WHO said there were 116 suspected cases of the deadly virus registered in the Democratic Republic of Congo as of May 31; This is a big drop from the 906 cases recorded late last week.
In total, 321 cases were confirmed in the Democratic Republic of Congo, including 48 deaths, while neighboring Uganda had nine confirmed cases, including one death.
WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier told reporters at the agency’s headquarters in Geneva on Tuesday that some suspected cases had been confirmed but many more had been “cleared” after turning out to be other illnesses or unrelated fevers.
While a less daunting caseload would help, doctors on the front lines of the outbreak say they probably should have known much sooner and emphasize that there are still many challenges to containing the outbreak.
Healthcare workers wear personal protective equipment (PPE) at the Evangelical Medical Center, one of the facilities on the front lines of the Ebola outbreak response, in Bunia, Ituri province, Democratic Republic of Congo, May 31, 2026. / Credit: Gradel Muyisa Mumbere/REUTERS
The International Rescue Committee charity told CBS News that the current outbreak may have spread unnoticed as early as January.
Dr., a doctor working for the International Medical Corps in the city of Goma in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Abdou Sebushishe told CBS News that workers trying to find and talk to people who came into contact with Ebola patients managed to reach only a quarter of those contacts. He said when contacted, some people told him they didn’t even believe Ebola existed.
“Instead of coming to healthcare, they are resorting to alternative solutions with traditional healers or other alternatives, further contributing to the spread of the epidemic,” he told CBS News. “My message is that Ebola is real.”
He believes “it will take more than six months to get this epidemic under control.”
“I think the outbreak has outpaced the current response, and adjustments are being made to catch up,” he said, noting that healthcare workers like himself still need more resources, including basic needs like protective equipment, to “increase the protection of healthcare workers.”
Sebushishe added that 20% of all new positive cases were healthcare workers.
But this week, hopes are rising that the Ebola strain behind the deadly outbreak can be defeated even by people who contract the virus. Five frontline nurses who contracted the disease while treating patients have recovered and been declared Ebola-free.
“I called the team and told them, ‘There’s something wrong here,'” nurse Etienne Ezo said. “I decided to get some rest and after a few minutes I started vomiting.”
However, this week, WHO chief Dr. He was among the medics who visited Tedros Ghebreyesus and presented Ebola survivor certificates.
Baraka Bulambulu, another healthcare worker who recovered, said, “It is an indescribable happiness to come out of this disease alive.”
Tedros said testing, treatment capacity and trust in health care workers still needed to be improved, but he emphasized: “If you come early and get medical care support, you can survive as others have survived.”
