WHO declares Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda as public health emergency
發佈日期: 2026-05-17 21:00
TVB News
World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has declared the Ebola disease outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and neighbouring Uganda a public health emergency of international concern.
This, after it caused more than 300 suspected cases and 88 deaths.
The World Health Organization said the outbreak does not meet the criteria of a pandemic emergency like the COVID-19 pandemic, and advised against the closure of international borders.
The WHO said a laboratory-confirmed case has also been reported in the Democratic Republic of the Congo's capital of Kinshasa, which is about 1,000 kilometres from the outbreak's epicentre in the eastern province of Ituri. This suggests a possible wider spread.
It said the patient had visited Ituri and that other suspected cases have also been reported in North Kivu province, which is one of the DR Congo's most populous and borders Ituri. The WHO said the DR Congo accounts for all except two of the cases, both of which were reported in Uganda.
DR Congo health Minister Roger Kamba Mulamba said the outbreak intensified after the body of an infected person was returned to the densely populated mining area of Mungwalu for burial rites.
Dr. Jean Kaseya, director general of the Africa CDC also said this was the likely cause of the outbreak.
Kaseya said, "From official records samples were taken when the person passed on because the person was bleeding and we knew that at that moment it was already a suspected case of Ebola. Now this body was brought back to DRC for funerals. I don't have any record of protective measures that people they had when the body was brought back to DRC."
Kaseya said the Africa CDC said the organisation was in talks with armed groups to secure humanitarian access to areas affected by the outbreak.
Health authorities say the current outbreak, first confirmed on Friday, is caused by the Bundibugyo virus, a rare variant of the Ebola disease that has no approved therapeutics or vaccines.
Although more than 20 Ebola outbreaks have taken place in Congo and Uganda, this is only the third time the Bundibugyo virus has been detected.
The WHO's emergency declaration is meant to spur donor agencies and countries into action. However, the global response to previous declarations has been mixed.
In 2024 when the WHO declared mpox outbreaks in Congo and elsewhere in Africa a global emergency, experts at the time said it did little to get supplies like diagnostic tests, medicines and vaccines to affected countries quickly.
