WHO head ‘deeply concerned’ by Ebola outbreak as cases and deaths surge in DRC

At least 130 people thought to have been killed, says Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus before emergency meeting

• https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/may/18/ituri-eastern-drc-ebola-outbreak-panic-fear">‘It’s heartbreaking’: panic in eastern DRC over return of Ebola

The director general of the World Health Organization has said he is deeply concerned about the scale and the speed of the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said there had been at least 500 suspected cases of Ebola and 130 suspected deaths in DRC since the new outbreak began.

Thirty cases had been confirmed in DRC’s north-eastern province of Ituri, and one death and one case had been confirmed in Kampala, Uganda, he added.

In addition, he said, there was “one US citizen confirmed positive and transferred to Germany, as reported by the US”.