Ebola Outbreak Claims 88 Lives as WHO Issues Global Health Alert

The World Health Organization has declared the ongoing Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) after the disease spread across borders and raised fears of wider transmission.

According to the WHO and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, the outbreak has so far resulted in 336 suspected cases and 88 deaths , with Congo accounting for all but two reported infections. Uganda confirmed two imported cases in the capital, Kampala, including one fatality.

Health authorities said the outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus, a rare variant first identified in Uganda in 2007. This is only the third recorded outbreak linked to the strain. Unlike the more common Zaire strain, the Bundibugyo variant currently has no approved vaccine or specific treatment , complicating containment efforts.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said there remain “significant uncertainties” over the actual number of infections and the geographical spread of the outbreak.

Ebola is a highly contagious viral disease transmitted through contact with infected bodily fluids, including blood, vomit and semen. The illness causes severe fever, bleeding and organ failure, and can often be fatal.

The outbreak was first detected in Congo’s eastern Ituri province near the Ugandan border. While WHO stressed the situation does not yet qualify as a pandemic-level emergency like COVID-19, it urged countries to strengthen surveillance and response measures without imposing border closures.