WHO Director-General's opening remarks at the Member State information session on outbreaks of Ebola and hantavirus – 22 May 2026

Excellencies, Honourable Ministers,

Heads of delegation, colleagues and friends,

Good afternoon to all Member States in the room, and good morning, good afternoon and good evening to those joining us online.

As you know, in the early hours of Sunday morning Geneva time, I declared a public health emergency of international concern over the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with so far two imported cases to Uganda.

I'm conscious that this is the first time a Director-General has declared a PHEIC before convening an Emergency Committee.

It's not a decision I took lightly, but it's one I took in accordance with the International Health Regulations, after speaking with the Ministers of Health of both countries, and in light of the need for an urgent response.

Preparations began immediately to convene an Emergency Committee, which met on Tuesday and concurred that in its view the situation is a public health emergency of international concern, but not a pandemic emergency.

Previously, WHO assessed the risk as high at the national and regional levels and low at the global level.

We are now revising our risk assessment to very high at the national level, high at the regional level, and low at the global level.

So far, 82 cases have been confirmed in DRC, with seven confirmed deaths.

But we know the epidemic in DRC is much larger. There are now almost 750 suspected cases and 177 suspected deaths.

In Uganda, two cases have been confirmed in people who travelled from DRC, with one death.

The measures taken in Uganda, including intense contact tracing and cancelling the Martyrs' Day commemoration, appear to have been effective in preventing the further spread of the virus.

An American national who was working in DRC has also been confirmed positive, and transferred to Germany for care.

We are also aware of media reports today about another American national who is a high-risk contact who has been transferred to the Czech Republic.

I thank the governments of DRC and Uganda for their leadership in coordinating the response, as well as the National Institute for Biomedical Research and the National Institute of Public Health in DRC, and the local health authorities.

WHO is supporting the response, in close cooperation with partners.

In addition to national staff in DRC, so far we have deployed 22 international staff to the field, including some of our most experienced people;

And we have released US$ 3.9 million from the Contingency Fund for Emergencies.

We're also in touch with the Under Secretary-General of OCHA, who has allocated US$ 60 million.

On the ground, we're supporting national authorities with every pillar of the response, including contact tracing, establishing treatment centres, risk communication and community engagement, and more.

Together with the Africa CDC, WHO is also establishing a continental Incident Management Support Team.

In the coming days we will publish a multi-agency Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan, aligned with the national plans of both DRC and Uganda, and with our partners.

There are several dimensions to this outbreak that make it especially challenging.

First, as you know, unlike many previous Ebola outbreaks, which were caused by Zaire virus, this outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo virus, for which there are no approved vaccines or therapeutics.

There have only been two previous outbreaks of Bundibugyo, in Uganda and 2007 and DRC in 2012.

Part of the reason the outbreak went undetected was because the tests that are used to detect Zaire virus do not detect Bundibugyo.

Yesterday, WHO convened the leaders of several partner organizations under the interim Medical Countermeasures Network, to review the pipeline of vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics.

The WHO R&D Blueprint is also coordinating several advisory groups on therapeutics, vaccines, clinical trial design and more.

Second, the provinces of Ituri and North Kivu in which the outbreak is occurring are highly insecure, with intensified fighting in recent months, causing more than 100 000 people to be newly displaced.

Across both provinces, around 4 million people need urgent humanitarian assistance, 2 million are displaced, and 10 million face acute hunger.

The area is also rich in minerals, with a transient population of miners, increasing the risk for the spread of the virus.

Third, there is significant distrust of outside authorities among the local population.

Just yesterday, there was a security incident at a hospital in Ituri, where tents and medical supplies were set on fire.

Building trust in the affected communities is critical to a successful response, and is one of our highest priorities.

We are also committed to ensuring that essential health services for the affected communities are maintained and strengthened, based on their needs.

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Now a brief update on the hantavirus outbreak among passengers and crew on board the cruise ship MV Hondius.

Today, the Netherlands confirmed an additional case among a crew member who disembarked in Tenerife, was repatriated to the Netherlands and has been isolating since then.

There are now 12 reported cases and 3 reported deaths.

No deaths have been reported since the 2^nd of May, when the outbreak was first reported to WHO.

We continue to urge affected countries to monitor all passengers and crew carefully for the remainder of the quarantine period.

More than 600 contacts continue to be followed in 30 countries, and a small number of high-risk contacts are still being located.

Once again, I thank the many countries that have cooperated in the response, and the epidemiological investigation: Argentina, Cabo Verde, Chile, Netherlands, South Africa, Spain and the United Kingdom.

The sharing of information under the International Health Regulations for this response has been very effective, with almost 800 communications with national focal points and WHO in the first two weeks alone.

Thank you all once again for your support, and we look forward to your questions and advice.