WHO's Tedros visits DR Congo as Ebola outbreak accelerates

World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus arrived in the Democratic Republic of Congo's capital, Kinshasa, on Wednesday to discuss the escalating Ebola crisis in the country's east. He warned that the virus is spreading more quickly than efforts to contain it.

This is the 17th Ebola outbreak in DRC's history and is already the fastest-spreading and second-most deadly ever recorded. The public health emergency, centered in the eastern Ituri province, was declared in mid-March, and Tedros has now visited twice this summer.

The visit coincided with a health scare in the Maluku municipality in northeastern Kinshasa. A passenger aboard a crowded boat died with Ebola-like symptoms, prompting authorities to rush isolation and inspection measures. However, according to DW correspondent Wendy Bashi, the presence of Ebola has not been confirmed. The deceased had not been tested, and the measures were precautionary. The boat, primarily carrying timber, also had about 200 people on board and had come from Kisangani in the far east.

Tedros met with health and humanitarian partners supporting the Ebola response to discuss challenges. He noted that new cases were doubling in some hotspots over the past week alone. He called for an urgent, massive scale-up of efforts across all response pillars, reaching every affected community despite insecurity and displacement, strengthening coordination under government leadership, and ensuring health workers have the protection, training, and support they need. He also stressed the importance of accelerating access to care, surveillance, and safe, dignified burials, and emphasized that communities must be at the center of the response.

According to the latest data from Congo's Ministry of Health, as of Monday there were 3,874 confirmed cases, including 1,751 deaths. At least 717 patients were in isolation, and 749 had recovered. The vast majority of cases — around 90% — have been recorded in Ituri province, which borders Uganda, with only a handful of cases outside the country.

During Tedros's visit, the US State Department pledged an additional $242 million (approximately €210 million) for immediate response, preparedness efforts, and humanitarian assistance related to the outbreak. The department also said its Travel Advisory status for the DRC, Uganda, and South Sudan remains at Level 4 — Do Not Travel.

Medical charity Doctors Without Borders warned on Wednesday that the rare strain was still "spreading at an alarming and unprecedented rate" in a remote area with poor infrastructure. The group said the response was expanding but not reaching communities quickly enough to break transmission chains. Reports of health workers striking over pay disputes have worsened already inadequate access to healthcare. Dr. Jean Kaseya, head of the Africa Centers for Disease Control, warned that contact tracing is not working and many cases are detected late. The Ebolavirus strain, known as Bundibugyo, has no approved treatment or vaccine, and hurried trials have begun. Researchers believe the outbreak started in remote areas months before it was identified, with early deaths misdiagnosed as peritonitis. Local funeral practices, involving open coffins and laying hands on the dead, helped the virus spread.