‘Far from under control’: WHO chief issues warning over DR Congo Ebola outbreak

The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is spreading faster than any previous epidemic of the disease and poses a risk of reaching additional countries, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned on Tuesday (Aug 18). Addressing an emergency meeting on the crisis, Tedros stated that the epidemic is "far from being under control" and noted that responders are still playing catch-up after the virus gained a significant head start. On Monday (Aug 17), the DRC reported that the outbreak, the 17th in the country's history, had become its deadliest, recording over 2,300 deaths out of nearly 5,000 cases. Although officially declared on May 15, the virus is believed to have been spreading undetected for several weeks prior.

The outbreak has impacted northern and eastern regions plagued by weak state presence, severe lack of health infrastructure, and decades of activity by numerous armed groups. The WHO emergency committee met for the second time since designating the situation a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on May 17, the agency's second-highest alert level.

The WHO currently evaluates the public health risk as "very high" nationally within the DRC, "high" for neighbouring countries such as Uganda, and "low" for the remainder of Africa and globally. Cases have been documented across six DRC provinces, including areas near the South Sudan border, as well as in Uganda.

Tedros reiterated that the risk of further national and international spread remains high due to the unprecedented speed of transmission. For comparison, the DRC's previous deadliest outbreak from 2018 to 2020 resulted in 2,299 deaths from 3,381 confirmed cases. The world's deadliest Ebola outbreak on record struck West Africa between 2013 and 2016, claiming over 11,300 lives, primarily across Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea.