CHAIRMAN: DR. KHALID BIN THANI AL THANI
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: PROF. KHALID MUBARAK AL-SHAFI

World / Africa

WHO warns Ebola outbreak had 'big head-start' but response 'catching up'

Published: 03 Jun 2026 - 05:17 pm | Last Updated: 03 Jun 2026 - 05:18 pm
A passenger's temperature is checked at Bunia Airport in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo on June 3, 2026. Photo by GLODY MURHABAZI / AFP

A passenger's temperature is checked at Bunia Airport in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo on June 3, 2026. Photo by GLODY MURHABAZI / AFP

AFP

Geneva: The World Health Organization warned Wednesday that the Ebola outbreak confirmed to have killed 359 people in central Africa had a "big head-start" but voiced hope that the response was making progress.

"The outbreak had a big head-start and we're still behind," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters in Geneva, stressing though that under the leadership of the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo, "we're catching up".