The World Health Organization has issued an urgent warning about the accelerating Ebola outbreak in central Africa, where the death toll has reached at least 220 and the number of suspected cases exceeds 900. Speaking to an online meeting of the African Union on Monday, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, “We are urgently scaling up operations, but at the moment the epidemic is outpacing us.” He added that health workers are “playing catch-up” as the virus spreads across the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and into Uganda.
Tedros is scheduled to travel to the DRC on Tuesday, where the outbreak is concentrated in the northeastern province of Ituri. This region has been the epicentre of more than a dozen Ebola outbreaks over the decades, but the current situation is particularly challenging due to the strain involved. The Bundibugyo type of Ebola virus, responsible for this outbreak, has no approved vaccine or specific treatment, complicating containment efforts.
Response Hampered by Violence and Distrust
The response has been severely hindered by local fear, anger, and frustration, including attacks on treatment centres. Distrust of authorities runs deep in a region long plagued by armed conflict. Aid groups on the ground report critical shortages of protective equipment such as face shields and suits, testing kits, and body bags needed for safe burials—bodies of Ebola victims remain highly contagious after death.
International aid cuts imposed last year by the United States and other wealthy nations have further weakened the capacity to respond, according to health experts. Eastern Congo’s unique combination of insecurity, poverty, and weak infrastructure makes it particularly vulnerable to such outbreaks.
Ugandan health authorities confirmed the first local infections on Saturday: a driver and a health worker who had contact with a Congolese patient who died on May 11. Since then, two more health workers at a private hospital in Kampala have tested positive, the Ministry of Health reported on Monday. The outbreak has been declared a global health emergency by the WHO.
For European readers, the situation carries direct implications. The Ebola alert in Lombardy after two suspected cases returned from Uganda underscores the risk of international spread. European health authorities are on high alert, and the EU’s Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) has been monitoring the situation closely. The WHO had already raised the risk level to 'very high' in the DRC as the outbreak crossed into Uganda.
The lack of approved vaccines or treatments for the Bundibugyo strain means that containment relies entirely on rapid case detection, isolation, contact tracing, and safe burials—all of which are being undermined by the region’s instability. The WHO has called for an urgent scale-up of international support, including funding for medical supplies and security for health workers.
As Tedros prepares to visit the affected areas, the global health community watches closely. The outbreak’s trajectory will depend on whether the international community can mobilise resources quickly enough to prevent a wider catastrophe.
