WHO head calls for ceasefire in Congo to help tackle Ebola outbreak

The head of the World Health Organization has called for an immediate ceasefire in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to help tackle the Ebola outbreak.

In an open letter posted on X, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus pledged to spare no effort to help contain the deadly outbreak, with the number of suspected Ebola cases in eastern Congo nearing 1,000 and at least 220 suspected deaths.

Ghebreyesus told the country that the WHO is “working closely with all relevant partners to ensure that the response can reach every community that needs it, and that no one is left behind because of where they live or what is happening around them.”

The director-general of the WHO, who is headed to Congo on Thursday, noted that the security situation in eastern Congo remains very difficult.

“Conflict and displacement make everything harder, including reaching people who need care and keeping health workers safe. I want to be honest: this is one of our greatest challenges,” he wrote. “We cannot do this work if those who are trying to help are prevented from doing so or put in danger.”

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The WHO head said that is why he is making a direct appeal to all warring parties in the Ituri region.

“Please, declare a ceasefire. Even briefly. Even just enough to let health workers through. People are dying from Ebola who do not have to die. Children are sick. Families are suffering. No cause, no conflict, no grievance is worth condemning innocent people to death from a preventable disease,” Ghebreyesus wrote.

“A ceasefire, even a temporary one, would save lives. I urge you, I implore you: give us the space to help the people who need it most.”

Ghebreyesus said he is aware of anger and mistrust in some communities.

“I need to be honest with you about something important. Most previous Ebola outbreaks in DRC were caused by a virus called Ebola Zaire, for which we have vaccines and treatments,” he continued. “This outbreak is caused by a different virus called Ebola Bundibugyo. There are currently no approved vaccines or treatments for it.”

Ghebreyesus said that the situation is “serious” and the people of the DRC “deserve to hear that plainly.”

“But I also want you to know this: while there are no specific treatments for Bundibugyo, there is much we can do together to prevent the spread of this virus and save lives. Early supportive care in our treatment centers can make a real difference. If you or someone you know falls ill, please do not wait,” he added.

Ghebreyesus told the country that he is “someone who knows your region, who has walked your streets, and who cares deeply about what happens to you and your families.”

“I want you to know that you are not alone. Ebola is not new to me personally. From 2018 to 2020, I came fourteen times to North Kivu, the epicentre of the outbreak at that time,” he wrote on Thursday.

Ghebreyesus said that he was “alongside families who had lost their loved ones.”

“I met health workers risking their lives every day. I met community leaders, traditional healers, religious leaders and business leaders who refused to abandon their people,” he continued. “I saw men and women show extraordinary courage in the most difficult of circumstances. The people there, who saw me coming back again and again, wanted to give me a name that belonged to their community.”

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The Ebola outbreak from 2018 to 2020 was “one of the most complex in history,” according to Ghebreyesus.

“It did not unfold in a stable, peaceful environment. It happened in the middle of armed conflict, with communities displaced, supply routes disrupted, and health workers operating under constant threat,” he wrote.

The WHO head said that this time the Ebola outbreak is hitting the Ituri province the hardest.

“More than 90% of all cases have been reported in Ituri province, with a small number of cases also reported in North Kivu and South Kivu. I know how frightening that is, and I know that the people of Ituri are bearing a burden that is not easy to carry,” he said.

“I know that many of you are exhausted. You are already carrying so much: malaria, hunger, insecurity, and the daily struggle to keep your families safe. And now Ebola. It is not fair, and I will not pretend otherwise.”

Ghebreyesus told the people of Ituri that they have a “vital role to play” in the current outbreak.

“Talk to your friends and your families. Share what you know about Ebola. Help break the fear and the silence that allows this virus to spread. Your voice carries further than you know, and we need it now more than ever,” he wrote.

Ghebreyesus also told the health workers of Ituri that they are not alone.

“Every day you go to work knowing the risks, and you go anyway. You do it for your patients, for your communities, for your families. You are the backbone of this response. Without you, none of this is possible,” he continued. “I know the conditions are hard. I know the resources are often not enough. I know that fear and exhaustion are real.”

“Please know that WHO stands with you, that we are working to get you the support you need, and that your courage and dedication are known and deeply valued far beyond the borders of this province.”

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This is the second time in two days that Ghebreyesus has asked for a ceasefire in the DRC.

On Wednesday, the WHO head said that the DRC faces a “catastrophic collision of disease and conflict in the Ebola outbreak in Ituri province outpacing the response.”

“Stopping this Ebola transmission depends entirely on humanitarian access. Yet ongoing clashes are driving mass displacement, pushing exposed contacts into overcrowded camps and severing critical containment corridors. Frontline workers are risking everything, while attacks on health facilities make tracking cases and their contacts nearly impossible,” he continued.

Ghebreyesus added that community trust cannot be built “while bombs are falling.”

“We urge all warring parties to agree to an immediate ceasefire to contain this outbreak. To allow us safe and sustained access for medical teams. We plea to prioritise human survival above everything else,” he wrote.

In an attempt to “swiftly contain the outbreak,” Ghebreyesus announced Thursday that the WHO is scaling up Ebola diagnostic capacities in the DRC and strengthening the laboratory network to deliver real-time data, which will help to rapidly identify confirmed cases.

On Wednesday, Uganda ordered the closure of its border with Congo, where suspected cases of the rare type of Ebola are surging.

The measure underscores growing fears of contagion in East Africa from Bundibugyo, a rare type of the Ebola virus that is behind this outbreak and has no approved medicines or vaccines.

Like Congo, Uganda has faced Ebola outbreaks in the past. A local Ugandan task force decided on the border closure, according to The Associated Press. The Ugandan health workers were exposed to the virus by Congolese patients who had crossed the border before the outbreak was declared in eastern Congo on May 15.

The border closure was temporary, with “immediate effect,” Dr. Diana Atwine of the Ugandan Ministry of Health, told journalists. Border crossings will be authorized only in emergency cases, including for the outbreak response, humanitarian, cargo or security reasons, she added.

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Anyone entering from Congo under emergency circumstances will be taken into mandatory isolation for 21 days.

Congo’s health ministry on Tuesday said 101 cases have been confirmed and that they are looking into more than 3,000 possible contacts.

On Wednesday, Congolese authorities said that the first person who recovered from the Bundibugyo virus has been released home from a treatment center in Rwampara, one of the towns in eastern Congo at the heart of the outbreak.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration is reportedly planning to send Americans who are exposed to Ebola while abroad to a new facility in Kenya instead of flying them to the United States, an administration official told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

The quarantine and treatment centre being set up by the Departments of Defense, State and Health and Human Services will be designed for Ebola patients who need to get out of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and receive care quickly, the official said.

Kenya’s health minister confirmed officials there were talking with the U.S. about “preparedness and response mechanisms for Ebola” but didn’t address whether the country would establish a treatment facility for Americans.

“Any arrangements regarding international health cooperation will be guided by Kenya’s national laws, public health regulations, biosafety and biosecurity standards, and the government’s responsibility to safeguard the health and welfare of Kenyans,” Health Minister Aden Duale said in a statement.

Lawrence Gostin, the director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Center on National and Global Health Law, told NBC News that the decision to quarantine Americans in Kenya is “unprecedented.”

“It is likely to cost American lives,” Gostin told the outlet. “We have an ethical duty to protect U.S. citizens, especially brave health and humanitarian workers who have cared for Ebola patients. It is impossible to give high quality care to Ebola patients in Kenya, compared with our state-of-the-art facilities in the U.S.”

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During a White House Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the administration’s top priority is to protect the American people.

“We cannot and will not allow any cases of Ebola to enter the United States,” Rubio said.

Earlier this month, an American doctor working in Congo tested positive for Ebola and was sent to Germany for medical care.

Serge, a Christian aid organization, said one of its doctors — which it identified as American medical missionary Dr. Peter Stafford — had been evacuated from Congo and is “receiving specialized medical treatment” at Berlin’s Charite University Hospital.

On Wednesday, the hospital said the patient was in stable condition.

“The viral load measured in the patient has dropped very, very rapidly over the course of the week,” likely thanks to antiviral therapy, Dr. Leif Erik Sander, director of the hospital’s infectious diseases department, told reporters.

Another American medical missionary, Dr. Patrick LaRochelle, was transported to the Czech Republic for isolation after he was exposed to Ebola, though he did not have any symptoms, according to the missionary organization.

—with files from The Associated Press