Ebola in the DRC: the likelihood of a new global pandemic is “constantly increasing”

May 18, 2026 Healthy wound

“The world has not become safer in the face of pandemics,” experts of the Global Preparedness Monitoring Board stated on Monday, noting that the Ebola outbreak 10 years ago, and then the “global catastrophe” COVID-19, demonstrated how vulnerable the international community is in such a situation.

The Council is an independent monitoring and accountability body created in 2018 by WHO and the World Bank to strengthen preparedness for global health emergencies.

“As outbreaks of infectious diseases become more frequent, they also become more destructive – with growing consequences for health, the economy, politics, and society. At the same time, the ability to recover after them does not decrease,” says the new report of the Council.

80 estimated deaths

Ebola is a severe, often fatal disease affecting humans and other primates. As of Saturday, May 16, authorities have registered eight laboratory-confirmed cases, 246 suspected cases, and 80 presumed deaths in Ituri Province in eastern DRC.

On Sunday, unconfirmed reports appeared that in the city of Goma, controlled by rebels, the capital of North Kivu province with a population of about one million people, positive results of tests for Ebola were detected. This concerns the wife of a man who died of Ebola in Bunia, the capital of Ituri province. Another person who arrived from Bunia to Beni (North Kivu) also fell ill with Ebola.

Other cases have been confirmed in the capital of the DRC, Kinshasa, and in neighboring Uganda, where two infected persons arrived from the DRC. According to WHO data, the outbreak also affected the capital of Uganda – Kampala. The organization supports government response measures, sending 42 specialists and necessary materials to the locations.

Scale of the flare

VOZ warns that the scale of the outbreak is likely wider than currently detected. This is indicated by unexplained cases of death, a high percentage of positive test results, and the absence of clear data on transmission routes. Concern is also raised by four deaths among medical workers, who report insufficiently effective infection control measures in healthcare facilities.

The agency’s statement notes that there is no approved therapy or vaccine against the virus that caused the current outbreak.

“Ongoing instability, a humanitarian crisis, high population mobility, the urban or semi-urban nature of current hotspots, and a wide network of informal medical facilities increase the risk of spread – as was already observed during the major Ebola epidemic in North Kivu and Ituri in 2018–2019,” the WHO stated.

“We know how to control Ebola”

“Ebola is a very serious disease, but we know how to control it,” said Mo Ammed Djanabi, the WHO regional director for Africa, in an interview with the UN News Service. He explained that the WHO’s statement on the emergency situation in the field of international health will help draw public attention to the problem, accelerate the mobilization of resources, and ensure coordinated interaction between countries.

“But this does not mean that people need to panic. The global system works as it should – it identifies the problem and responds decisively to it,” Dzhanab said, urging the media to disseminate accurate information. “The disease itself is an epidemic.”