The World Health Organisation (WHO) says an American doctor who tested positive for Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has been transferred to Germany for treatment.
WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus disclosed this during the 79th World Health Assembly in Geneva, where health ministers and diplomats are discussing pandemic preparedness, health financing and cross-border public health response.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the infected American had been working with a medical missionary group in the DRC.
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Ghebreyesus also confirmed two Ebola cases in Kampala, including one death, involving travellers from the DRC.
“We’re working with the DRC, Uganda and the United States,” he said, warning of “the potential for further spread and further deaths.”
He noted that beyond confirmed infections, more than 500 suspected cases and 130 suspected deaths had been recorded, although figures could change as surveillance, testing and contact tracing expand.
The WHO chief said cases had emerged in urban centres including Kampala and Goma, while infections among health workers pointed to hospital-based transmission.
He stated that insecurity, mass displacement and heavy population movement in the mining regions of Ituri Province were increasing the risk of wider spread.
Ghebreyesus explained that the outbreak was linked to the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, for which there are currently no vaccines or approved treatments.
Measures
He, however, stressed that measures such as community engagement, surveillance and risk communication remain critical in containing the disease.
He commended the Ugandan government for postponing the annual Martyrs’ Day celebrations, which usually attract about two million people, because of the outbreak risk.
The WHO said it has deployed personnel, supplies and emergency funding, including an additional 3.4 million dollars from its Contingency Fund for Emergencies.
The Assembly comes amid growing financial pressure on global health systems and WHO itself, following major cuts in donor funding and rising humanitarian and climate-related crises.
Despite the challenges, Ghebreyesus said WHO had completed a restructuring process and was moving forward “with purpose and confidence,” citing reforms such as the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence in Berlin, the mRNA Technology Transfer Hub in South Africa, and the Pandemic Fund created with the World Bank.
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