WHO chief visits DR Congo Ebola hotspot as cases surpass 1,000

Tedros urges more aid in Kinshasa, saying Ebola response has received only a third of needed funds

The World Health Organisation (WHO) chief on Saturday called on communities in the centre of the Congo's latest Ebola outbreak to ​play a central role in fighting the disease.

WHO Director-General Tedros ‌Adhanom Ghebreyesus arrived in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Thursday to coordinate the response to the Ebola outbreak, for which 1,028 suspected cases had been recorded ​by Friday, according to Congolese authorities.

"The communities understand the ​problems better and they know the solution as well," Ghebreyesus told reporters after arriving in Bunia, ​the provincial capital of Ituri, a hotspot of the ongoing Ebola outbreak.

Also Read: 'Breakneck' Ebola epidemic in Congo outpaces world's response

"Yes, ​the international community is involved, under the leadership of the government of DRC. At the same time, community ownership is important. That's why we are here ​to discuss with the community to see how the response is ​running and, if there are challenges, to help," Tedros said.

On arrival in Congo's ‌capital ⁠Kinshasa on Thursday, Tedros called for more international support for the Ebola response, saying the WHO had so far received only a third of its funding requirements.

@DrTedros, Directeur général de l'OMS, est arrivé aujourd'hui à #Bunia🇨🇩, en Ituri, l'une des 3 provinces durement touchée par la maladie #Ebola, causée par le virus #Bundibugyo. Il rencontre les autorités & les intervenants, les remerciant pour leur engagement à sauver des vies. pic.twitter.com/H8LrUUKX54

— OMS RDC (@OMSRDCONGO) May 30, 2026

French aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) on Saturday ​warned that the ​latest Ebola outbreak, the 17th since 1976, was spreading at an unprecedented pace.

"Never before has an Ebola outbreak recorded ​so many cases so soon after its declaration," Alan ​Gonzalez, MSF ⁠deputy director of operations, said in a statement.

The number of expert medical organisations responding to the outbreak on the ground, as well as ⁠the ​level of support being provided to fight ​the outbreak, is still far short of what is required, Gonzalez added.

The highly contagious haemorrhagic fever is already present in three eastern DRC provinces and in neighbouring Uganda, where nine confirmed infections, including one death, have been recorded.

Medical team from the Alliance for International Medical Action (ALIMA), an international NGO dress up in personal protective equipment (PPE) as they set up a treatment centre for the Ebola response, as agencies intensify efforts to contain a new Ebola outbreak caused by the Bundibugyo virus strain, in Rwampara outside Bunia, Ituri province, Democratic Republic of Congo, May 29, 2026. PHOTO: AFP

The true reach of the outbreak in the DRC, which is thought to have been circulating before it was detected, is likely to be much wider, the WHO has warned.

Read More: WHO reports 906 suspected cases and 223 suspected deaths from Bundibugyo strain of Ebola

Conflict and Ebola

Uganda closed its border with the DRC this week and ordered a 21-day quarantine for anyone arriving from that country.

On Friday, the WHO announced that a patient had recovered on Wednesday, left the hospital and was discharged into the community after two negative tests.

WHO’s Anais Legand told reporters in Geneva it marked the “first” among patients who had been confirmed Ebola carriers in the current outbreak.

Ebola, which is passed on through close contact and bodily fluids, has killed more than 15,000 people in Africa over the past 50 years.

The deadliest outbreak in the DRC claimed nearly 2,300 lives out of 3,500 cases between 2018 and 2020.

State services are largely lacking in Ituri province, where access is hindered by insecurity due to the presence of Islamic State-affiliated Allied Democratic Forces militants and other militias that regularly kill civilians.

The nearby North and South Kivu provinces, which have also seen Ebola cases in the outbreak, have been plagued by near-continuous violence for three decades.

Swathes of the region are controlled by the Rwanda-backed armed group M23, which has been battling government forces.

Millions of people have fled the fighting and are living in displacement camps with poor hygiene conditions.

Nearly a million of those displaced are in Ituri province, where the prospect of the epidemic spreading throughout the camps has sparked alarm.

“If Ebola comes, we’ll be wiped out as we’re packed like sardines,” Dorcas Mapenzi said at the Kingonze camp on the outskirts of Bunia.

No vaccine or specific treatment exists for the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, which is behind the current outbreak.

But the head of the CDC Africa said on Thursday that a vaccine should be ready by the end of the year.