WHO chief says fast-moving Ebola epidemic is outpacing response efforts

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May 25, 2026 7:48 AM EDT

FILE PHOTO: Director-General of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus attends an ACANU briefing in Geneva, Switzerland, April 29, 2026. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo

May 25 (Reuters) - The ‌head of ​the ​World Health Organization said on Monday that the fast-moving Ebola outbreak in Democratic ‌Republic of Congo and Uganda was outpacing ⁠response efforts, giving the latest number of suspected deaths ‌as 220.

Addressing an online ‌meeting of the African Union about the outbreak, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said a ​delay in detecting Ebola cases meant responders were now "playing catch-up" and the epidemic was likely ⁠to get worse before it gets better.

Tedros said he would travel ​to Congo - the epicentre of the outbreak - on Tuesday with another senior WHO ​official responsible for addressing health ‌emergencies, Chikwe Ihekweazu.

Earlier on Monday neighbouring Uganda reported two more Ebola cases, ⁠taking its total number of confirmed cases to seven, and Tedros said other countries bordering Congo were ⁠at high risk and should take immediate action.

The WHO has ​declared the outbreak of the rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola a public health emergency of international concern.

Tedros said ‌containing the fast-moving outbreak was complicated by the fact that Congo's Ituri ‌and North Kivu provinces were highly insecure and ⁠there were no approved ‌vaccines for Bundibugyo ​virus.

(Reporting by Vincent Mumo Nzilani and Sfundo Parakozov;Editing by Alexander Winning and Gareth ‌Jones)


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