43 Dead as Bundibugyo Ebola Outbreak Declared Public Health Emergency of International Concern

WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced the recoveries while visiting Bunia in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. "Four people will be discharged today, and there was one who was discharged the day before yesterday," he said. The Bundibugyo strain currently has no approved vaccine or treatment.

The WHO has designated the outbreak affecting both the DRC and Uganda as a public health emergency of international concern. Tedros stated that work continues on vaccines and treatments but added that recovery remains possible. "We can stop this Ebola and anyone who has it can also recover," he declared.

Health authorities in Brazil are examining two suspected Ebola cases. A Congolese man who returned from the DRC to Sao Paulo state developed a fever and tested positive for meningitis. A second individual in Rio de Janeiro state who had travelled to Uganda received a positive malaria diagnosis.

Brazilian officials said neither diagnosis excludes the possibility of concurrent Ebola infection. Italian health protocols were activated in Cagliari, Sardinia, after a man arrived from the DRC on Saturday displaying symptoms. Italy's health ministry confirmed on Monday that the man tested negative for Ebola.

The ministry said the risk of Ebola in Italy remains low. Jean Kaseya, director-general of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, reported that 263 confirmed Ebola cases had been recorded in the DRC and Uganda as of Saturday. Investigators are examining more than 1,100 suspected cases across both nations, with the death toll standing at 43 confirmed fatalities.

Doctors Without Borders has demanded immediate expansion of testing capacity, swifter deployment of humanitarian workers, and guaranteed access to medical supplies. Tedros said community participation remains crucial to halting transmission. "This thing is everybody's business and every citizen should be involved," he said.