The World Health Organization’s top official announced Sunday that an Ebola outbreak affecting Congo and Uganda has been classified as an international public health emergency, following reports of more than 300 suspected infections and 88 fatalities.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus made the declaration after reviewing the situation. In a social media statement, the World Health Organization clarified that this outbreak does not qualify as a pandemic-level emergency similar to COVID-19, and recommended against shutting down international borders.
The deadly virus spreads through direct contact with bodily fluids including blood, vomit and semen. While Ebola outbreaks are uncommon, the disease typically results in severe illness and frequently proves fatal.
Medical experts have identified the current outbreak as stemming from the Bundibugyo virus, an uncommon form of Ebola for which no authorized treatments or preventive vaccines are available. Despite more than 20 previous Ebola outbreaks occurring across Congo and Uganda, the Bundibugyo variant has only appeared twice before.
Nearly all cases have emerged in Congo, with just two confirmed infections in neighboring Uganda, according to WHO reports.
Health officials initially documented the disease’s spread in Congo’s eastern Ituri province, located near the borders with Uganda and South Sudan, on Friday. By Saturday, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention had tallied 336 suspected cases and 87 deaths.
“There are significant uncertainties to the true number of infected persons and geographic spread associated with this event at the present time. In addition, there is limited understanding of the epidemiological links with known or suspected cases,” Tedros said.
Ugandan authorities confirmed Saturday that one patient who had traveled from Congo died at a medical facility in the capital city of Kampala. The WHO reported a second case also in Kampala. Both patients had journeyed from Congo, and officials found no connection between the two cases.
The Bundibugyo strain first appeared during a 2007-2008 outbreak in Uganda’s Bundibugyo district, affecting 149 individuals and causing 37 deaths. Its second occurrence was documented in 2012 in Isiro, Congo, resulting in 57 cases and 29 fatalities.
The WHO’s emergency status aims to mobilize international donors and governments to respond. Past emergency declarations have produced varying levels of global action.
When the organization declared mpox outbreaks in Congo and other African nations a global emergency in 2024, health experts noted the designation failed to rapidly deliver essential supplies including diagnostic equipment, medications and vaccines to impacted regions.
