KINSHASA: The toll from the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has risen to an estimated 131 deaths from 513 suspected cases, health minister Samuel Roger Kamba said. The previous figures from the epidemic in the country&#39;s east, which the World Health Organization has declared an international health emergency, gave a total of 91 dead out of 350 suspected cases. <span style="font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; float: none; display: inline !important;" id="isPasted">WHO chief says &#39;deeply concerned&#39; by &#39;scale and speed&#39; of DR Congo Ebola outbreak

A staff member of the CBCA Virunga Hospital checks a visitor’s temperature using a a contactless infrared thermometer, before allowing her access to the hospital in Goma on May 17, 2026.

Africa

The previous figures from the epidemic in the country's east, which the World Health Organization has declared an international health emergency, gave a total of 91 dead out of 350 suspected cases of Ebola. 

Estimated DR Congo Ebola death toll rises to 131

GENEVA: World Health Organization member states gather for their annual meeting in Geneva on Monday amid concern over deadly hantavirus and Ebola outbreaks and uncertainty over announced US and Argentinian withdrawals. While the rare hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship that has gripped global attention is not officially on the agenda, it is expected to feature prominently in the discussions, as is the fresh Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo. A diplomatic source, who asked not to be identified, said it would be interesting to see how such outbreaks are used by the WHO &quot;to promote other things&quot;, including &quot;to pressure (the United States and Argentina) not to go&quot;. The meeting of the WHO&#39;s annual decision-making assembly, which runs through Saturday, comes after a difficult year for the organization. It has been weakened by the announced US withdrawal and by funding cuts that have forced it to slash its budget and staff numbers. &quot;We are stable now and moving forward,&quot; WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus insisted at the end of April. Diplomats and observers agreed. The situation is &quot;still fragile, but they&#39;ve been successful in mobilizing most of the funds&quot; required for the next two years, Surie Moon, co-director of the Global Health Centre at the Geneva Graduate Institute, told AFP. And the hantavirus crisis provided &quot;a clear illustration of why the world needs an effective, trusted, impartial, reliably-funded WHO&quot;, she added. UN, Argentina withdrawalsBut significant divisions persist. Continued disagreement between wealthy and developing nations has, for instance, blocked progress on the key missing piece of the WHO&#39;s landmark 2025 pandemic treaty, with negotiations now expected to be extended for another year. It also remains unclear what, if anything, would be decided on the US and Argentine announced withdrawals. US President Donald Trump, on his first day back in office in January 2025, handed the WHO his country&#39;s one-year withdrawal notice, with Argentina soon following suit. The WHO, whose constitution does not include a withdrawal clause, has not confirmed either withdrawal. The United States reserved the right to withdraw when it joined the WHO in 1948 -- on condition of giving one year&#39;s notice and meeting its financial obligations in full for that fiscal year. While the notice period has expired, Washington has still not paid its 2024 or 2025 dues, owing around $260 million. When the WHO&#39;s executive board met in January, Israel submitted a resolution to approve Argentina&#39;s withdrawal -- something countries are expected to discuss during the assembly -- but not a word was said about the US leaving. Diplomats and observers indicated there was broad agreement that it would be better to maintain a grey zone around whether the US was effectively out. &quot;We hope that it will go past quietly on the US,&quot; a European diplomat said on condition of anonymity. Election campaign&nbsp;The assembly will take place as the process towards next year&#39;s election of a new WHO chief heats up. No one has yet declared their candidacy, but announcements are possible this week ahead of the nomination deadline of September 24. A number of sensitive resolutions are also on the table, including on Ukraine, the Palestinian territories, and Iran, which could spark heated debate. Much of this week&#39;s discussions will centre on whether to launch a formal reform process for the so-called &quot;global health architecture&quot; -- a mishmash of organizations that do not always work together and often overlap. &quot;Among the issues to be explored are what is best done at the global and regional levels... and what is a national responsibility?&quot; Helen Clark, co-chair of The Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response and a former New Zealand prime minister, told AFP. Canadian Health Minister Marjorie Michel told AFP that &quot;this current crisis, with the departure of key players, also allows ... the WHO to re-examine its strategy with its members&quot;. A key focus will be to ensure the process does not see &quot;controversial&quot; issues, such as climate and sexual and reproductive health rights, sacrificed in the context of dwindling international aid funding. &quot;The objective is to ensure better coordination among health actors, so that no activities or populations are left behind,&quot; said a diplomatic source, who asked not to be named. But Thiru Balasubramaniam of the Knowledge Ecology International NGO, told AFP the WHO had already &quot;scaled down some of their activities, including in terms of sexual and reproductive health&quot;.

Germany's Health Minister Nina Warken speaks to a journalist after a meeting with World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General ahead of the 79th World Health Assembly in Geneva, on May 17, 2026. (Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP)

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WHO member states meet in Geneva amid global concern over hantavirus and Ebola outbreaks, funding strains following announced US and Argentine withdrawals, and renewed debate over reforming the global health system, pandemic preparedness, and coordination among international health actors.

WHO kicks off annual assembly amid hantavirus, Ebola crises

GENEVA:&nbsp;An Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has killed more than 80 as authorities warned there was no vaccine for the strain in a crisis that the World Health Organization declared an international health emergency on Sunday. A total of 88 deaths and 336 suspected cases of the highly contagious hemorrhagic fever have been reported, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC Africa) said in an update on Saturday. The Geneva-based WHO said early on Sunday the outbreak caused by the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola constituted a &quot;public health emergency of international concern&quot; -- the second-highest level of alert under international health regulations. The global health body warned that the true scale of cases and spread was unclear, but stopped short of declaring a pandemic emergency, the highest alert level introduced in 2024. Medical aid group M&eacute;decins Sans Fronti&egrave;res (MSF) said it was preparing a &quot;large-scale response,&quot; calling the rapid spread of the outbreak &quot;extremely concerning,&quot; in warnings echoed by authorities. &quot;The Bundibugyo strain has no vaccine, no specific treatment,&quot; DR Congo&#39;s Health Minister Samuel-Roger Kamba said. &quot;This strain has a very high lethality rate, which can reach 50%.&quot; The strain -- which was first identified in 2007 -- has also killed a Congolese national in neighboring Uganda, officials said Saturday. Vaccines are only available for the Zaire strain, which was identified in 1976 and has a higher fatality rate of 60-90%. Health officials confirmed the latest outbreak on Friday in Ituri province in northeastern DRC, which borders Uganda and South Sudan, according to CDC Africa. &quot;We&#39;ve been seeing people die for the past two weeks,&quot; said Isaac Nyakulinda, a local civil society representative contacted by AFP by phone. &quot;There is nowhere to isolate the sick. They are dying at home, and their bodies are being handled by their family members.&quot; According to Kamba, patient zero was a nurse who reported to a health facility in Ituri&#39;s provincial capital, Bunia, on April 24, with symptoms suggesting Ebola. Symptoms of the disease include fever, hemorrhage and vomiting. &quot;The number of cases and deaths we are seeing in such a short timeframe, combined with the spread across several health zones and now across the border, is extremely concerning,&quot; said Trish Newport, MSF&#39;s emergency program manager, which is mobilizing medical and support staff to the area. Large-scale transport of medical equipment is a challenge in DR Congo, a country of more than 100 million people, which is four times the size of France, but has a poor communications infrastructure. High risk of spread&nbsp;It is the 17th Ebola outbreak to hit the DRC, and officials warned of a high risk of spread. &quot;There are significant uncertainties to the true number of infected persons and geographic spread,&quot; the WHO said. But it added the high positivity rate of initial samples, the confirmation of cases in two countries, and the increasing reports of suspected cases, &quot;all point toward a potentially much larger outbreak than what is currently being detected and reported, with significant local and regional risk of spread.&quot; The previous outbreak of Ebola -- which has killed around 15,000 people in Africa over the past 50 years, despite advances in vaccines and treatment -- was last August in the central region. That episode killed at least 34 people before being declared eradicated in December. Nearly 2,300 people died in the deadliest outbreak in the DRC between 2018 and 2020. Ebola, believed to have originated in bats, can cause severe bleeding and organ failure. Outbreaks over the past half-century have had a mortality rate among those affected ranging from 25% to&nbsp;90%, according to the WHO. The virus spreads from person to person through bodily fluids, including blood, and an infected person becomes contagious only after they develop symptoms. The incubation period can last up to 21 days.

The World Health Organization says the rare Bundibugyo Ebola strain is spreading in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda. The outbreak has killed dozens, but the WHO says it does not yet qualify as a pandemic emergency.

Articles tagged with "Ebola"

Estimated DR Congo Ebola death toll rises to 131

WHO kicks off annual assembly amid hantavirus, Ebola crises

WHO declares international health emergency over rare Ebola strain

Estimated DR Congo Ebola death toll rises to 131