WHO: Ebola Outbreak In Congo, Uganda Public Health Emergency

GENEVA, May 17 (Bernama-dpa) -- The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Sunday declared an international public health emergency due to an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Uganda, reported German news agency dpa.

The WHO said that Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus determined "that the Ebola disease caused by Bundibugyo virus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda constitutes a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) but does not meet the criteria of pandemic emergency."

The declaration is intended to put neighbouring countries on heightened alert and mobilise support from the international community, the WHO said. 

The organisation said that, as of Saturday, "eight laboratory-confirmed cases, 246 suspected cases and 80 suspected deaths have been reported in Ituri Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo across at least three health zones." Ituri province borders Uganda and South Sudan in the DRC's north-east.

"In addition, two laboratory confirmed cases (including one death) with no apparent link to each other have been reported in Kampala, Uganda, within 24 hours of each other, on 15 and 16 May 2026, among two individuals travelling from the Democratic Republic of the Congo."

Ebola is a contagious and life-threatening infectious disease. The virus is transmitted through physical contact and contact with bodily fluids.

According to Germany's Robert Koch Institute, the Ebola mortality rate can be as high as 90% if infected individuals are not treated immediately.

More than 11,000 people died during an outbreak in West Africa in 2014 and 2015.

The most recent Ebola cases in Congo were reported in September when 45 people died in the province of Kasaï in the south-west of the country during what was the 16th Ebola outbreak in Congo since 1976.

--BERNAMA-dpa