EBOLA OUTBREAK IN DRC, UGANDA A GLOBAL HEALTH EMERGENCY

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Uganda a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), warning of increasing cases, deaths, and cross-border transmission.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced the decision on Sunday after health authorities reported eight labor­at­ory-con­firmed cases, 246 sus­pec­ted cases, and 80 sus­pec­ted deaths in east­ern DRC's Ituri province.

“The Ebola dis­ease caused by Bundibugyo virus in the Demo­cratic Repub­lic of the Congo and Uganda con­sti­tutes a pub­lic health emer­gency of inter­na­tional con­cern, but does not meet the cri­teria of pan­demic emer­gency," he said.

The Bundibugyo virus disease (BVD) is a rare type of Ebola disease that currently has no approved therapeutics or vaccines.

Additional confirmed cases have emerged in Uganda after infected individuals traveled across the border from DRC and were admitted to intensive care units.

Officials are also concerned about the deaths of at least four healthcare workers, raising questions about infection prevention measures in medical facilities.

WHO says the outbreak could be much larger than official figures suggest—citing unexplained clusters of death, high positivity rates among tested samples and limited understanding of transmission patterns as indicators that the outbreak may be spreading undetected in some communities.

However, the agency advised against imposing international travel or trade restrictions, and instead emphasized the need for stronger surveillance and coordinated regional preparedness.

“Con­firmed cases should imme­di­ately be isol­ated and treated with no national or inter­na­tional travel until two Bundibugyo virus-spe­cific dia­gnostic tests con­duc­ted at least 48 hours apart are neg­at­ive," the agency added.

The highly contagious and deadly Ebola virus is transmitted through direct contact with bodily fluids of infected individuals and can cause severe fever, bleeding, vomiting, diarrhea, and organ failure.