WHO sounds the alarm No antidote: how dangerous is the Ebola epidemic?
The WHO has declared a health emergency due to the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Image: dpa
Health authorities are warning of a high risk of the disease spreading in the region.
Image: dpa
Medical aid organizations are preparing a large-scale operation in the Congo.
Image: dpa
The WHO has declared a health emergency due to the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Image: dpa
Health authorities are warning of a high risk of the disease spreading in the region.
Image: dpa
Medical aid organizations are preparing a large-scale operation in the Congo.
Image: dpa
More than 130 deaths in just a few days, hundreds of suspected cases and fears of further spread: the new Ebola outbreak in Congo is putting health authorities around the world on alert.
19.05.2026, 21:21
19.05.2026, 21:24
dpa
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- The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo last week has so far claimed more than 130 lives.
- The WHO declared an international health emergency due to the rapid spread of the disease.
- Particularly worrying is the rare variant of the virus, for which neither a tested vaccine nor a targeted therapy exists.
The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has caused international concern. The death toll in connection with the epidemic there has risen to over 130 within just a few days. A total of around 500 suspected cases have been reported so far. Due to the spread of the rare Bundibugyo variant of the Ebola virus, for which there is no antidote, a "public health emergency of international concern", the second-highest alert level of the World Health Organization (WHO), has been in force since Sunday. Should people in this country also be worried?
How unusual and critical is the outbreak?
In the last 50 years, there have been 17 Ebola outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of Congo. According to the African health authority Africa CDC, these were mainly the most common Zaire Ebola virus, for which a vaccine has been developed.
According to the Africa CDC, this is only the third time that the rare Bundibugyo variant has broken out. Previously, the Bundibugyo strain first appeared in Uganda in 2007, then in Congo in 2012. Due to its rarity, there is no approved vaccine or treatment for this variant, according to the WHO.
However, according to the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Bundibugyo variant has a lower mortality rate of around 37 percent. The Zaire strain has a mortality rate of up to 90 percent.
Can the outbreak be contained locally?
According to the Africa CDC, the outbreak probably began in the third week of April, but was not reported until the beginning of May. The late detection has led to contacts traveling and the epidemic is now well advanced with over 130 deaths, said Caitlin Jeanne Brady, country director of the Danish Refugee Council in Congo. This is a region that has never been confronted with Ebola before. This could mean that people distrust health workers and rely on traditional remedies instead, according to Brady.
How exactly does the disease progress?
The disease often starts out similar to the flu or diarrhea, says Fabian Leendertz from the Helmholtz Institute. However, the disease then becomes more severe, with blood in the stool, among other things. However, the latter does not always occur with this variant of the virus, which makes it more difficult to detect the disease.
According to Leendertz, most people ultimately die of multiple organ failure. "Ebola viruses are usually transmitted from person to person through direct contact with people who are already ill or their bodily fluids," explains Florian Klein, Director at the Institute of Virology at the University of Cologne.
One major difference to previous crises is the lack of an approved vaccine for this specific type of Ebola. "We don't have this tool in our hands right now and that's why this is something we have to take very seriously," says Leendertz.
How likely is it to spread to Europe?
Leendertz estimates the risk of the Ebola virus spreading on a large scale in Europe as low. Although individual cases caused by returning travelers cannot be completely ruled out, he considers further outbreaks in countries with good healthcare systems to be "extremely unlikely".
According to Leendertz, diseases that cause severe symptoms and have a high mortality rate are generally less likely to trigger a pandemic than diseases such as Covid. This is because diseases with more severe courses are easier to trace, whereas the milder courses of Covid, for example, are more likely to go undetected.
In a functioning healthcare system with good monitoring options, chains of infection can be quickly interrupted through targeted tracing and monitoring of contact persons. The health systems in some of the Democratic Republic of Congo's neighboring countries are already better, making an outbreak less likely.
What does the WHO's international health emergency mean?
The high alert level triggers mechanisms intended for such cases, such as global coordination of countermeasures and international resource mobilization. Among other things, the WHO is providing around 430,000 euros for emergency measures.
Ten of Congo's neighboring countries have been officially warned so far. These include Uganda and South Sudan, which directly border the affected Congolese province of Ituri. However, the WHO has clarified that this is not a pandemic alert.
