UPDATE 1-WHO chief says suspected Ebola deaths at 220 and 'epidemic is outpacing us'

Earlier on Monday Uganda reported two ⁠more Ebola cases, taking its total number of confirmed cases ​to seven. The World Health Organization has declared the ⁠outbreak of the rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola a public health ⁠emergency ​of international concern.


Reuters | Updated: 25-05-2026 17:45 IST | Created: 25-05-2026 17:45 IST
UPDATE 1-WHO chief says suspected Ebola deaths at 220 and 'epidemic is outpacing us'

​The director-general of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said ‌on Monday that there had been 220 suspected deaths in the current Ebola outbreak and that a delay in detecting ‌cases meant responders were now "playing catch-up".

"We are urgently scaling ‌up operations, but at the moment the epidemic is outpacing us," Tedros said, adding that countries bordering the Democratic Republic of ⁠Congo - ​the epicentre of ⁠the outbreak - should take immediate action. Earlier on Monday Uganda reported two ⁠more Ebola cases, taking its total number of confirmed cases ​to seven.

The World Health Organization has declared the ⁠outbreak of the rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola a public health ⁠emergency ​of international concern. Tedros said he would travel to Congo on Tuesday and that addressing the fast-moving outbreak ⁠was complicated by the fact that Congo's Ituri and North ⁠Kivu provinces ⁠were highly insecure and there were no approved vaccines for Bundibugyo virus.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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