WHO Chief Visits Congo as Ebola Cases Pass 1,000 and Funding Falls Short
World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus travelled to eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on Saturday to meet with communities at the centre of a rapidly spreading Ebola outbreak, as aid agencies warned the response has not kept pace with the virus and the WHO disclosed it had secured only a third of the funding it requires. By Friday, Congolese authorities had recorded 1,028 suspected cases. Two people remain unaccounted for as the outbreak continues to spread across Ituri province and into Uganda. U.S. News & World Report
“The communities understand the problems better and they know the solution as well,” Tedros told reporters after arriving in Bunia, the provincial capital of Ituri province, a hotspot of the ongoing outbreak. “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,” he said. The Star
On his arrival in the Congolese capital Kinshasa on Thursday, Tedros called for more international support for the Ebola response, disclosing that the WHO had so far received only a third of its funding requirements. He did not state the total sum needed or the amount received to date. U.S. News & World Report
The funding gap drew a sharp warning from French humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières. MSF on Saturday said the outbreak — the 17th in the DRC 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. U.S. News & World Report
The outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, a variant distinct from the more frequently discussed Zaire strain. There is no licensed vaccine or specific therapeutics approved against the Bundibugyo virus, though early supportive care is regarded as lifesaving. The virus carries an estimated fatality rate of between 25 and 50 percent. The most promising vaccine candidate under development is loosely based on an approved vaccine for the Zaire strain, but a WHO official said it will likely take six to nine months before doses are ready for clinical trials. WHO + 2
The international response has gathered pace over the past week. Medical aid donated by the European Union arrived in Ituri on Thursday, with further shipments expected over the following eight days. The United States announced $80 million in additional aid on the same day, bringing its total commitment to more than $112 million. The US State Department has also committed $50 million to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs to fund up to 50 Ebola response clinics in affected areas, and is providing $300 million through OCHA pooled funds to the DRC and Uganda for broader humanitarian efforts in the affected region. PBSU.S. Department of State
Despite those arrivals, aid organisations on the ground describe a response still running behind the virus. NBC News reported that the virus continued to spread faster than the response as of Saturday, even with better-organised health facilities and new aid arrivals in Bunia. Tedros is scheduled to visit a treatment centre and meet local authorities, health workers and affected families during his time in the city. NBC News
The outbreak has crossed into Uganda, adding a regional dimension to the crisis. Uganda closed its border with Congo with immediate effect after Ugandan health workers were exposed to the virus by Congolese patients who had crossed the border before the outbreak was declared in eastern Congo on May 15. The border closure was described as temporary, with crossings authorised only for emergency cases, including outbreak response, humanitarian operations, cargo and security reasons, according to Dr. Diana Atwine of the Ugandan Ministry of Health. The WHO estimates the case fatality rate for the Bundibugyo strain at around 40 percent. Uganda has recorded eight confirmed cases and one death. PBSCIDRAP
Uganda’s border closure runs counter to WHO guidance, which has historically advised against trade and travel restrictions as a response to disease outbreaks on the grounds that they impede the movement of responders and supplies without meaningfully containing transmission. PBS
Regional and Global Impact
On May 17, the WHO declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern as the infection rate and death toll continued to climb. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a Level 3 Travel Health Notice for the DRC on May 15, the highest level of travel alert, alongside a Level 1 notice for Uganda. The cross-border spread to Uganda, a country with major transit links to East Africa, has heightened concern among regional health authorities about further geographic spread. The absence of any approved vaccine or treatment for the Bundibugyo strain means containment depends entirely on isolation, contact tracing, and community engagement — the tools that Tedros explicitly appealed to on Saturday. AJMCCDC
Background
WHO received the first alert about an unknown illness with high mortality in the Mongbwalu Health zone on May 5, 2026. The DRC Ministry of Public Health declared the outbreak on May 15. The previous Ebola outbreak in the DRC, caused by a different strain, ended in December 2025. There have been two previous outbreaks of the Bundibugyo virus: one in Uganda’s Bundibugyo District in 2007 and 2008, from which the strain takes its name, and another in Isiro in the DRC in 2012. Transmission is particularly amplified in healthcare settings when infection prevention and control measures are inadequate, and during unsafe burial practices involving direct contact with the deceased. Community resistance and insecurity have historically complicated Ebola response operations in Ituri province. WHO + 3
What Happens Next
Tedros is expected to visit an Ebola treatment centre in Bunia and meet affected families and local health authorities before departing the DRC. The WHO, in partnership with the DRC and Ugandan health ministries, is continuing to implement public health measures including rigorous surveillance, case management, and scaling up of laboratory resources within designated health zones. Uganda’s Ugandan Ministry of Health said the border closure is temporary and that it will be reviewed as conditions change. Further EU medical shipments are expected in Ituri over the coming eight days. The WHO has not publicly stated a timeline for closing its funding gap, nor named specific donors it is appealing to for the outstanding two-thirds of its requirements. AJMCCIDRAP
