Ebola outbreak on track to be deadliest ever, WHO chief says

What the report says

The World Health Organization says the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is moving fast enough to become the deadliest on record if it continues at its current pace. Speaking to reporters, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that the 2026 outbreak could surpass the 2014-2016 epidemic, which killed at least 11,000 people, according to BBC World News.

The BBC said the outbreak, officially declared on 15 May, has already caused more than 2,000 deaths and at least 4,300 cases. Health officials now believe it began months earlier, possibly in February, and was initially mistaken for illnesses such as malaria or typhoid. WHO Africa director Dr Mohamed Janabi said teams are “chasing the virus” because it is spreading faster than responders can contain it.

The outbreak is centered in eastern DR Congo, where instability has complicated access for health workers. Janabi said teams are reaching only about 30% of cases. The virus involved is the rare Bundibugyo strain, for which there is no approved vaccine or recognized treatment, though the UK medicines regulator has authorized first human trials of a candidate vaccine developed at Oxford. The WHO is also backing a separate clinical trial of existing antiviral therapies, underscoring the wider concern that this outbreak could be difficult to control.