WHO sees 'encouraging signs' in Congo Ebola fight, but warns cases in
one eastern region are surging
[September 17, 2026]
GENEVA (AP) — The head of the U.N. health agency is hailing
“encouraging signs” in the fight against an Ebola outbreak in one part
of eastern Congo, while warning that case counts are rising fast in
another as officials race to tamp down the virus.
World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
said Wednesday that signs of gaining ground against the Bundibugyo
virus, the rare species behind the outbreak, have emerged in Ituri
province. But he said that the situation is one of “many outbreaks in
many places.”
“We are now starting to see encouraging signs that we are gaining
ground. In the most affected parts of Ituri province, transmission is
going down,” Tedros told reporters at the agency’s headquarters in
Geneva.
South Kivu, he said, has reported no new cases since May.
“But make no mistake, the epidemic continues to grow and continues to
kill,” Tedros said. He said more than 7,200 cases and more than 3,500
deaths have been reported across seven provinces.
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 In North Kivu, “cases are rising
fast,” Tedros said. The number of weekly cases has nearly doubled
over the past two weeks, from about 100 to more than 200. “The area
is so vast that it’s hard to speak of a single epidemic. It’s many
outbreaks in many places.”
Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO’s director for epidemic and
pandemic management, said that “we can be cautiously optimistic
about what is happening, but I think we need to be realistic about
the road that’s ahead of us. Looking at trends takes time.”
Last week, officials in Congo said that the world’s fastest-growing
outbreak of the disease on record had now spread to seven provinces
in the African country, and was showing no signs of slowing down.
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