WHO says 600 suspected cases, 139 deaths in growing Ebola outbreak

Lead

The World Health Organization (WHO) has raised the alarm over a fast-moving Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda, reporting almost 600 suspected cases and 139 suspected deaths. The UN health agency has declared the situation a public health emergency of international concern, though it stops short of calling it a pandemic.

“WHO assesses the risk of the epidemic as high at the national and regional levels and low at the global level,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus during a press conference in Geneva on Wednesday, as reported by multiple outlets including Al Jazeera and Dawn.

The outbreak, caused by the rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola — for which no approved vaccine or treatment exists — has spread across eastern DRC and into neighbouring Uganda, with officials warning that numbers are likely to rise.

Coverage Comparison

Coverage of the outbreak has been widespread, with outlets taking different angles. Al Jazeera and AllAfrica have focused on the WHO’s latest figures and the response on the ground, while The Guardian and RFI have been more critical, highlighting the role of US funding cuts to global health efforts. Dawn, a Pakistani outlet, has also covered the US political dimension, including criticism from US Secretary of State Marco Rubio of the WHO’s response.

The Guardian’s reporting has been notably more critical of the US response, framing it as a “self-inflicted wound” and describing cuts to health programmes as “gutted” — language that reflects a broader critique of the withdrawal of American support. RFI similarly warns that the region has been left “dangerously exposed” by the funding cuts. In contrast, Al Jazeera and AllAfrica have kept a more neutral focus on the outbreak’s progression and the WHO’s actions.

The WHO declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern on Sunday, a step taken by Tedros before convening the usual expert committee, a move he said was due to the urgency of the situation. The emergency committee subsequently met and agreed that the criteria for a public health emergency of international concern were met, but that the situation did not constitute a pandemic emergency.

Key Claims

• Suspected cases and deaths: The WHO reports almost 600 suspected cases of Ebola in the DRC and Uganda, with 139 suspected deaths. This figure includes 51 confirmed cases in the DRC’s Ituri and North Kivu provinces, and two confirmed cases in Uganda’s capital, Kampala, including one death. The numbers are expected to rise, according to Tedros.
• Risk levels: The WHO assesses the risk as high at the national and regional levels, but low globally. The European Union has similarly said the risk of an outbreak in Europe is low.
• Public health emergency: The WHO has declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern, but not a pandemic emergency. The declaration was made by Tedros before the committee convened, and the committee later confirmed the designation.
• Bundibugyo strain: The outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo strain, which has caused only two previous outbreaks in Africa, and the current one is already deadlier than both. There are no approved vaccines or treatments for this strain.
• US response: The United States has pledged to fund up to 50 treatment clinics in the DRC and Uganda, according to a report from RFI. However, aid groups and experts have blamed earlier US funding cuts for weakening disease surveillance in the region. The US has cut funding to the WHO, leading to lost jobs and reduced capacity to respond to outbreaks.
• Cross-border collaboration: The WHO is working with community leaders in the epicentre province of Ituri to prevent wider transmission. Cross-border collaboration is essential to contain the outbreak, said Dr. Marie Roseline Belizaire, WHO Africa’s Director of Emergency Preparedness and Response, during a ministerial meeting in Kampala.

Perspectives

The outbreak has highlighted tensions between the need for a rapid global response and the impact of reduced US engagement. While the WHO has mobilised teams and called for sustained financial contributions, the US has faced criticism for cutting funding to the WHO and other global health programmes, which some say has weakened the region’s ability to detect and respond to such outbreaks.

The Guardian’s reporting quotes experts noting that the US withdrawal of funding has been “disruptive to the country’s basic activities,” with US foreign assistance to the DRC dropping from $1.4 billion in 2024 to just $431 million in 2025 and only $21 million so far this year. Similarly, aid groups have said that earlier cuts have made the region “dangerously exposed."

Despite the challenges, the WHO remains focused on stopping the spread. "Our absolute priority now is to identify all the existing chains of transmission," said WHO emergencies chief Chikwe Ihekweazu. "That will then enable us to really define the scale of the outbreak and be able to provide care."

As the situation evolves, the WHO has raised its national risk assessment for the DRC to "very high," while keeping the global risk low. The agency is working with the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and other partners in both affected countries to contain the outbreak and support affected communities.