WHO declares global health emergency over Ebola outbreak in Congo and
Uganda
[May 18, 2026]
By CHINEDU ASADU and SALEH MWANAMILONGO
ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — The World Health Organization declared the Ebola
disease outbreak caused by a rare virus in Congo and neighboring Uganda
a public health emergency of international concern on Sunday, after more
than 300 suspected cases and 88 deaths.
WHO said the outbreak doesn't meet the criteria of a pandemic emergency
like COVID-19, and advised against the closure of international borders.
WHO said on X that a laboratory-confirmed case has also been reported in
Congo’s capital, Kinshasa, which is about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles)
from the outbreak's epicenter in the eastern province of Ituri,
suggesting a possible wider spread. It said the patient had visited
Ituri and that other suspected cases have also been reported in North
Kivu province, which is one of Congo’s most populous and borders Ituri.
On Sunday, the rebel government of Goma, eastern Congo's largest city,
said in a statement that the first confirmed case of Ebola was detected
in the city. The infected person traveled from Ituri province and was
currently under isolation, the statement said. Goma was the site of a
rapid rebel offensive in early 2025, and the conflict between the
Congolese armed forces and the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel paramilitary
group has displaced hundreds of thousands.
Rare but often fatal and highly contagious
Ebola is highly contagious and can be contracted via bodily fluids such
as vomit, blood or semen. The disease it causes is rare, but severe and
often fatal.
WHO’s emergency declaration is meant to spur donor agencies and
countries into action. By WHO’s standards, it shows the event is
serious, there is a risk of international spread and it requires a
coordinated international response.
In a separate statement on X on Sunday, the WHO Regional Office for
Africa said that a team of 35 experts from the WHO and the Congolese
Ministry of Health had arrived in Bunia, the capital of Ituri province,
along with 7 tons of emergency medical supplies and equipment.
The global response to previous declarations has been mixed. In 2024,
when WHO declared mpox outbreaks in Congo and elsewhere in Africa a
global emergency, experts at the time said that it did little to get
supplies like diagnostic tests, medicines and vaccines to affected
countries quickly.
It's hard to treat a variant of Ebola
Health authorities say the current outbreak, first confirmed on Friday,
is caused by the Bundibugyo virus, a rare variant of the Ebola disease
that has no approved therapeutics or vaccines. Although more than 20
Ebola outbreaks have taken place in Congo and Uganda, this is only the
third time that the Bundibugyo virus has been detected.
Congo accounts for all except two of the cases, both of which were
reported in Uganda, WHO said.
The Bundibugyo virus was first detected in Uganda’s Bundibugyo district
during a 2007-2008 outbreak that infected 149 people and killed 37. The
second time was in 2012, in an outbreak in Isiro, Congo, where 57 cases
and 29 deaths were reported.
Dr. Richard Kitenge, chief of operations at the Centre des Opérations
d’Urgence de Santé Publique, part of Congo's National Institute of
Public Health, recently arrived in Ituri. He said that while the risks
may be high, Congo has weathered previous outbreaks.
“We have managed enough epidemics in the country without treatment. The
Zaire virus, which we managed, was also untreated in several epidemics,
and not everyone died,” Kitenge told The Associated Press.
Conflict and migration complicate efforts
Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention Director-General Dr.
Jean Kaseya said Saturday that a high number of active cases remain in
the community, particularly in Mongwalu, where the first cases were
reported, “significantly complicating containment and contact tracing
efforts.”
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A health official uses a thermometer to screen people in front of
Kibuli Muslim Hospital in Kampala, Uganda, Saturday, May 16, 2026.
(AP Photo/ Hajarah Nalwadda)
 Violent conflict with militants,
some backed by the Islamic State group, as well as constant
population movement because of mining, both within Congo and across
the border in Uganda, have also posed a major challenge to response
efforts.
Officials first reported the spread of the disease in Ituri
province, close to Uganda and South Sudan, on Friday. On Saturday,
the Africa CDC reported 336 suspected cases and 87 deaths in Congo.
“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,” WHO
Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
The two cases in Uganda include one person whom officials said had
traveled from Congo and died at a hospital in Uganda’s capital,
Kampala, and another WHO said had also traveled from Congo.
WHO said the high percentage of positive cases among samples tested,
the spread to Kampala and Uganda and the clusters of deaths across
Ituri “all point toward a potentially much larger outbreak than what
is currently being detected and reported, with significant local and
regional risk of spread.”
CDC says risk to Americans low
U.S. health officials describe the risk to Americans as low, but did
not directly answer questions about whether any Americans may have
been exposed to the Ebola virus in Africa.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is working with
other health officials “to ensure the outbreak is managed and
prevent further spread of Ebola,” said Dr. Satish Pillai, the
manager of the CDC’s response to the outbreak, in a call with
reporters Sunday.
The agency has an office with 30 personnel in Congo, and is working
to deploy additional CDC workers to respond to the outbreak, Pillai
said.
The agency on Friday issued travel advisories urging Americans
traveling in Congo and Uganda to avoid people who have symptoms like
fever, muscle pain and rash. The CDC also is “putting in appropriate
measures for identifying individuals with any symptoms” at ports of
entry, Pillai said, but CDC officials did not immediately respond to
follow-up questions asking for more detail.
Congo outbreak killed 50 before it was detected
Kaseya said that slow detection delayed the response and gave the
virus time to spread.
“This outbreak started in April. So far, we don’t know the index
case. It means we don’t know how far is the magnitude of this
outbreak,” Kaseya said, using a term for the first detectable case
of an epidemic.
The earliest known suspected case, a 59-year-old man, developed
symptoms on April 24 and died at a hospital in Ituri on April 27.
By the time health authorities were first alerted to the outbreak on
social media on May 5, 50 deaths had already been recorded, the
Africa CDC said.
WHO said at least four deaths have been reported among healthcare
workers who showed Ebola symptoms.
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Associated Press writer Mike Stobbe contributed from New York.
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