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The U.S. CDC raised its response to the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic ​Republic of Congo to its highest level on Friday, but said the risk ‌of the disease spreading in the United States remained low. The move, reserved for the most severe health crises, signals growing concern over the rare strain's rapid spread. The outbreak of the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola has infected over ​1,200 people in Congo, including 321 deaths, and 20 cases in neighboring Uganda, ​reaching the highest first-month total of any episode of the disease, the ⁠World Health Organization said this week. The Centers for Disease...

The White House on Wednesday officially asked Congress for $87.6 billion in supplemental funding to pay for the Iran war, curtail the ongoing Ebola outbreak and provide aid to U.S. farmers, among other requests, according to a copy obtained by The Hill. In a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), White House Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought asked for $67 billion for the Defense Department, down from an expected $200 billion first floated by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in March. But even with a smaller price tag, the bill will need some support from Democrats to...

France has confirmed its first case of Ebola - a doctor who had returned from a humanitarian mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The doctor was "immediately admitted to a specialised facility" and is in a stable condition, the French health ministry said on Wednesday. DR Congo announced an Ebola outbreak last month, but experts believe the virus had been circulating for weeks previously. More than 260 people are confirmed to have died from the virus in the central African country, while 1,000 people have been infected. This is the first Ebola case to have been confirmed in Europe,...

The Health Ministry announced on Sunday that it has received a report of another person suspected of having Ebola after returning from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The man, who returned to Israel two days ago, sought medical treatment after developing a fever, headache, and diarrhea. The ministry stressed that the case remains only a suspected one at this stage. Officials said the required series of laboratory tests is already underway, with results expected in the coming days. The patient is being treated in isolation in accordance with protocols for highly contagious infectious diseases. He has been transferred to...

Africa CDC Warns Congo Ebola Outbreak Could Be Worst in History Family members and a group of midwives cry upon the arrival at the cemetery of the casketJospin Mwisha / AFP via Getty Images John Hayward17 Jun 2026124 5:28 Jean Kaseya, director of the Africa Centers for Disease Control (Africa CDC) warned on Tuesday that the current outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) could become the worst ever recorded since so many of the people who came into contact with Ebola victims have yet to be traced and tested. “If we don’t stop the outbreak...

Olivier le Polain, an epidemiologist with the World Health Organization (W.H.O.), said on Friday that there are still “many blind spots in some areas that are high risk,” so the full extent of the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) remains unclear. “Surveillance really needs to be strengthened in ​those areas,” he advised. “The full scale of the outbreak is not yet clear, and we’ll get more clarity as surveillance improves.” Le Polain, who spoke from the North Kivu provincial capital of Beni in the DRC, delivered the alarming revelation that new Ebola cases are still...

An antibody from an Ebola survivor may be the key to fighting the virus more efficiently. The mAb 3A6 antibody binds to a hidden part of Ebola’s structure, stopping infection in its tracks, even at record-low doses. Credit: SciTechDaily.com A team of scientists has uncovered the remarkable potential of a human antibody, mAb 3A6, in fighting Ebola virus infections. Sourced from a survivor of the devastating 2014–2016 outbreak, this antibody binds to a key structure on the virus known as the “stalk,” effectively neutralizing it. Notably, mAb 3A6 provides potent protection even at ultra-low doses, making it cost-effective and easier...

June 1 (Reuters) - Global health organisation CEPI will give roughly $60 million to Moderna (MRNA.O), opens new tab and two other groups to accelerate the development of shots ​against Ebola Bundibugyo, the deadly virus that has swept through eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations was one of the ‌early investors that helped to develop a vaccine at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Richard Hatchett, head of CEPI, told Reuters on Monday it was possible to get Ebola Bundibugyo (BDBV) vaccines ready for trials within a couple of months. There are currently no approved...

More than 1,100 people were suspected of having contracted Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo and neighbouring Uganda, the head of the African Union's health agency said on Sunday in a commentary for the Financial Times. Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention director general Jean Kaseya said there were 263 confirmed cases in both countries as of Saturday, with 43 confirmed deaths. More than 1,100 suspected cases were still being investigated, he wrote in the editorial. On Thursday, the Africa CDC said there had been 246 suspected deaths from the virus. "We must move at the speed of...

The rapid spread of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo has created a "deeply alarming" situation, the medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has warned. Speaking two weeks on from the outbreak being declared, MSF Deputy Director Dr Alan Gonzales said never before had "so many cases" been recorded so soon. His comments came as the head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, visited the eastern Congolese province of Ituri - the worst-hit area - to oversee virus containment efforts. There are now more than 1,000 suspected Ebola cases in the DR Congo, and at...

World Health Organization (W.H.O.) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus arrived in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on Thursday evening, seeking to support the medical response to the fast-growing outbreak of Ebola Bundibugyo. W.H.O. said on Friday the outbreak now includes 906 suspected infections and 223 suspected deaths. “To come here is to really show to the community that they’re not alone. Pushing orders from my comfortable office in Geneva is easy, but I’m asking my colleagues to work with the community and I am asking communities to protect themselves,” Tedros told reporters upon his arrival in the DRC. The...

Africa's population has grown more than sixfold since 1950 and is projected to keep expanding through the end of the century — even as growth slows across most of the world — according to a Pew Research Center analysis published last week.Drawing on United Nations population data, the report finds that the continent currently holds 19% of the global population but is home to 28% of all people under 25. That share is expected to rise sharply in the decades ahead.Africa's population stood at roughly 230 million in 1950. It has since grown by approximately 1.3 billion people. Under the...

LONDON -- The New York-based International Rescue Committee (IRC) aid organization warned on Tuesday that the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and neighboring Uganda is now spreading faster than responders can contain it and risks becoming "the deadliest on record" without urgent international action. What is especially alarming, the IRC said, is that the outbreak is no longer limited to remote areas of the DRC's northeastern province of Ituri, the epicenter of the current epidemic. Cases and contacts are now spreading into larger regional hubs, the IRC warned, including the major city of Goma...

At least 220 people are now suspected to have died from the ongoing Ebola outbreak, the head of the World Health Organization said Monday, according to the Reuters news agency. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that because of a delay in detecting cases, health workers were now "playing catch-up." The announcement came as Ugandan health authorities reported two new Ebola cases Monday, bringing the number of infections there to seven, after the number of suspected cases in the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo surpassed 900. All the cases are linked to the Congo outbreak, which appears to have started several...

Angry young men stormed a hospital treating Ebola patients at the heart of the latest outbreak of the disease in eastern Congo on Sunday evening, forcing the medical staff to scramble to evacuate the patients as gunfire rang out in the area. It was not immediately known if anyone was hurt in the attack on the Mongbwalu General Hospital but Dr. Richard Lokudu, the hospital’s medical director, told The Associated Press the attackers demanded that two bodies of their relatives be handed over to them. There was gunfire and the medics were trying to evacuate the patients and the staff,...

BUNIA, Congo (AP) — Angry residents of a town at the epicenter of the Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo attacked and burned a tent that was part of a health center where people are being treated for the virus, the staff there said Saturday. It was the second such attack in the region in a week. No one was hurt in the attack, according to initial reports but as patients ran out to escape the fire, 18 people with suspected Ebola infections left the facility and are now unaccounted for, a local hospital director said.

WHO head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Friday that the global risk from the disease remained low. The World Health Organization has raised its public health risk from the Ebola outbreak from "high" to "very high" in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In an update on Friday, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of the agency, said 82 cases had so far been confirmed in the country, with seven confirmed deaths. "But we know the epidemic in the DRC is much larger," Ghebreyesus said, adding that there were around 750 suspected cases and 177 suspected deaths. The Director-General said the global...

NASCAR legend Kyle Busch died of severe pneumonia leading to sepsis, according to his family. “The medical evaluation provided to the Busch Family concluded that severe pneumonia progressed into sepsis, resulting in rapid and overwhelming associated complications,” the Busch family said. Two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch passed away on Thursday. He was 41 years old. Earlier Thursday, the Busch family released a statement on Kyle Bushch’s deteriorating health: “Kyle has experienced a severe illness resulting in hospitalization. He is currently undergoing treatment and will not compete in any of his scheduled activities this weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway....

A vaccine to tackle the runaway Ebola virus now surging through central Africa can be developed within 100 days, an international disease response group vowed Friday.The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) funds the development of new vaccines and is looking at potential candidates for the Bundibugyo strain, for which there is no current known vaccine.Jane Halton, CEPI’s board chair, highlighted an urgent need for a vaccine, saying the number of cases recorded so far may be only the tip of the iceberg and a swift response is essential.“I can guarantee you that we will be in a position to...

BUNIA, Congo (AP) — Authorities in northeastern Congo banned funeral wakes and gatherings of more 50 people Friday in an effort to curb a rapidly spreading Ebola outbreak in a region where medical workers have struggled with a lack of resources and pushback from angry residents. The World Health Organization said that the outbreak now poses a “very high” risk for Congo — up from a previous categorization of “high” — but that the risk of the disease spreading globally remains low. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said 82 cases and seven deaths have been confirmed in Congo, but that...