WHO warns of the spread of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda

Published at: 20/05/2026 08:22 AM

The World Health Organization (WHO) set off alarm bells on the African continent by confirming the first 51 cases of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and another 2 in neighboring Uganda. The initial balance is devastating, with a record of nearly 600 possible infections and 139 probable deaths linked to this outbreak.

International health authorities are already deployed in affected areas to try to contain the spread of the virus, in the midst of a complex scenario for medical assistance.

The agency's director general, Tedros Adhanom Gebreyesus, publicly warned that a significant increase in these numbers is expected in the coming days. The main concern of experts lies in the time that the virus circulated silently among the population before being officially detected by epidemiological surveillance systems.

This delay in the initial diagnosis makes it difficult to immediately trace direct contacts and increases the risk of transmission chains that have not yet been identified.

Given the seriousness of the situation on the ground, WHO has assessed the risk of spread as high both at the national level within the affected countries and at the regional level for neighboring nations. Population movements across borders and the aggressiveness of the disease keep local health ministries in suspense.

However, for the peace of mind of the rest of the international community, the agency has determined that the danger of global expansion remains low for the time being.

Current efforts are focused on urgently sending medical personnel, vaccines and experimental treatments to detected sources of infection. Collaboration between the governments of the DRC and Uganda is crucial to establish effective health cordons and community awareness campaigns to help curb infections. The evolution of this outbreak will depend to a large extent on how quickly new suspected cases can be isolated and on the funding of the emergency response.

Mazo News Team