June 3, 2026
The World Health Organization warned Wednesday that the Ebola outbreak confirmed to have killed 61 people in central Africa had a “big head-start”, and said “blanket travel restrictions” were hindering the response.
The outbreak was declared on May 15 in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, but the virus is believed to have been spreading under the radar for some time beforehand.
“The outbreak had a big head-start and we’re still behind,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters at the UN health agency’s headquarters in Geneva, but voiced hope that “we’re catching up”.
To date, there have been 344 confirmed Ebola cases in the DR Congo in the ongoing outbreak, including 60 deaths, according to Congolese health authorities and the WHO, which also tally over 100 suspected cases of the disease.
