WHO Chief 'Really Worried' Over Third-Largest Ebola
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- Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he is "really worried" after his second visit to the Ebola outbreak zone in DRC and Uganda, calling it the third-largest Ebola outbreak on record with the virus "ahead of us."
- The combined outbreak has produced 708 confirmed cases and 141 deaths across the two countries since being declared on May 15 and designated a public health emergency of international concern two days later on May 17.
- On June 11, only 28.4% of contacts of known Ebola cases had been followed up — far below the 95% target — while overall contact tracing stood at roughly 50%, with community resistance leaving cases hidden and unmonitored.
- Community members in northeastern DRC told Tedros that Ebola is a "lesser evil" compared to chronic armed conflict, hunger, displacement, and other diseases like malaria, and some believe the virus is a hoax or a foreign money-making scheme.
- WHO field staff in DRC have faced death threats, and trained personnel from the 2018-2020 outbreak are no longer in place because ongoing conflict has driven displacement and dismantled the local health system.
- Uganda's outbreak appears largely under control with 19 confirmed cases and two deaths, while the northeastern DRC outbreak is "circulating unchecked" and residents recalled that the massive 2018-2020 response left nothing behind for them afterward.
- Tedros said resolving the crisis requires a political solution to the chronic conflict, warning that without peace and broader investment in health and food aid, surveillance cannot improve in the region.
Why it matters: With only 28% of Ebola contacts being followed up against a 95% target, the virus is spreading ahead of the response in northeastern DRC, where communities view Ebola as a lesser threat than armed conflict and hunger. Tedros acknowledged surveillance cannot improve without a political solution to the region's chronic violence, meaning the outbreak remains largely unchecked despite the international emergency designation.
