World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus delivers remarks during a press briefing concerning the Ebola epidemic at WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, May 22, 2026.Martial Trezzini/epa/shutterstoc/MARTIAL TREZZINI/EPA/Shutterstoc
The World Health Organization's chief issued a warning Monday indicating that a swiftly escalating Ebola situation in both the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda "will worsen before it improves."
During a digital session, WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus mentioned the DRC has seen over 900 cases and in excess of 220 deaths. From these, 101 cases and 10 fatalities have been verified.
The WHO and Uganda's Ministry of Health have also stated that Uganda has reported five imported instances and one casualty.
"We are confronting an immensely grave and intricate outbreak. It will degrade before it ameliorates," Tedros communicated on Monday. "Yet we comprehend this germ, and we grasp how to suppress it. We have neutralized each prior Ebola epidemic, and we shall also conquer this one."
Tedros vocalized his desire to echo viewpoints voiced by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa regarding overcoming the epidemic through cohesion.
"The real issue is merely how rapidly we can accomplish it, and the number of additional lives that will be extinguished before we do," Tedros appended.
World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus speaks during a press conference on the Ebola disease outbreak at WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, May 22, 2026.Martial Trezzini/epa/shutterstoc/MARTIAL TREZZINI/EPA/Shutterstoc
Tedros' remarks occur as a hospital in northeastern Congo experiences growing unease with officials struggling to adhere to safety procedures after a prominent religious figure passed away.
Dr. Richard Lokudi, the director of Mongbwalu General Referral Hospital situated in Ituri province — which is among the three provinces where the Ebola epidemic is centered — informed ABC News that the establishment is confronting intense strain following the arrival of the remains of a confirmed Ebola victim, who held a major spiritual position within the locality.
Lokudi conveyed that family members and assemblies of youths are insisting on the body's return.
As the patient had been a confirmed Ebola case, the authorities are emphasizing a "secure and respectful burial" in line with epidemic regulations, and the body is being temporarily sheltered at the hospital pending interment on Monday.
Lokudi reported that police and military personnel have been guarding the hospital and discharging cautionary shots to scatter demonstrators assembling outdoors.
He further noted that the gunfire encircling the hospital has rendered him spent and stressed.
The previous week, Tedros had designated the Ebola outbreak as a global public health emergency — a rank just underneath a pandemic in the United Nations agency's warning apparatus.
Tedros articulated on Monday that the WHO is still assessing the national risk evaluation as "exceptionally elevated," while the risk at the regional level is sustained as "elevated" and the global risk echelon remains "subdued."
The epidemic has prompted multiple nations, including the U.S., India, the U.K., and Australia, to institute travel limitations.
Entering the U.S. is only permitted to international voyagers who have been in the DRC, Uganda, and South Sudan recently.
Meanwhile, U.S. passport carriers and U.S. citizens journeying back to the U.S. from the three countries will be diverted to Dulles Airport in Virginia for examination of indications and interrogation regarding possible exposure.
Heightened screening procedures have also been initiated at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport as of Saturday morning and procedures at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston are slated to commence late Tuesday.
Lawful permanent residents (green card holders) present in any of the three nations in the preceding 21 days are briefly prohibited from entering the U.S.
Vanny Birungi, a Red Cross volunteer, on a house-to-house sensitisation campaign amid the Ebola outbreak in Bunia, Congo, May 25, 2026.Moses Sawasawa/AP Photo
Tedros affirmed on Monday that WHO teams are actively functioning in the epidemic zones, aiding with countermeasures like tracing contacts, setting up treatment facilities, and implementing contamination prevention and control. Tedros further indicated his upcoming trip to the DRC on Tuesday.
The WHO leader noted several facets of this epidemic render it "notably arduous," which includes the tardiness in spotting the eruption.
"[It] implies that we are now struggling to compensate for a rapidly progressing epidemic," he commented on Monday.
He mentioned that as a result of the recent combat in the provinces bearing the main weight of the outbreak, tens of thousands have become displaced and a "noteworthy suspicion towards external authorities pervades among the local populace."
A further challenge is the absence of sanctioned vaccines or remedies for the Ebola strain causing the epidemic: Bundibugyo virus.
Tedros reported that the WHO has endorsed prioritizing two monoclonal antibodies for progression in clinical trials and suggested assessing the antiviral obeldesivir within a clinical trial as preventative treatment post-exposure for those with heightened risk of contact.
ABC News' Eric M. Strauss contributed to this report.
Sourse: abcnews.go.com