Ebola Outbreak At Risk Of Becoming ‘Deadliest On Record,’ Humanitarian Group Warns (Live Updates) - Forbes

ToplinePresident Donald Trump’s administration is building a quarantine and treatment center in Kenya for Americans exposed to Ebola while visiting impacted countries in Africa, the White House confirmed Wednesday, a stark contrast from past Ebola outbreaks in which U.S. citizens were brought home for treatment in specialized medical units. Medical personnel wear protective clothing while disinfecting the area in preparation for the arrival of volunteers during the launch of an Ebola trial vaccination campaign at Mulago Referral Hospital in Kampala on Feb. 3, 2025.AFP via Getty ImagesTimelineWEDNESDAY, MAY 27, 2026Americans who are evacuated from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the center of the Ebola outbreak, will quarantine and, if needed, be treated at the Kenyan center "without the risks of a lengthy transport back to the US," the White House said. Jennifer Nuzzo, the director of the Pandemic Center at the Brown University School of Public Health, tells The Guardian of the move: “It is shocking to me that the administration is looking to prevent Americans from coming home to receive the proven world-class care that our taxpayer-funded biocontainment and treatment units are equipped to provide.” Officials in Uganda order the closure of its border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo despite guidance from the World Health Organization that says such measures "are usually implemented out of fear and have no basis in science." WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus warns the DRC is in danger of a "catastrophic collision of disease and conflict" and urges an immediate ceasefire between local militias: “We cannot build community trust or isolate the sick while bombs are falling,” he said. MAY 26, 2026Americans who were exposed to an ongoing Ebola outbreak in Africa will be sent to Kenya for observation and treatment by specially trained Public Health Service officers, the New York Times reported, a stark contrast from those exposed to past Ebola outbreaks and were brought back to the United States to be treated in specialized medical units. The IRC warns that conflict in the region, rapid spread and massive funding cuts to global health programs could cause the ongoing Ebola crisis to outpace that of the 2018-2020 outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which killed more than 2,290 people. Dr. Peter Stafford, an American missionary who contracted Ebola while working in Congo and is now being treated in Germany, is “doing a lot better,” his college and fellow evacuee tells the Washington Post. Researchers in England say they're months away from clinical trials and animal testing has started for a new experimental Ebola vaccine that could help tackle the ongoing emergency. Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston opens as the third U.S. airport able to conduct Ebola health screenings, and passengers who've visited certain African nations in the last 21 days are now required to be checked for symptoms at airports in Houston, Atlanta or Washington D.C. before they can travel within the country. MAY 25, 2026The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention warns 10 African countries are now considered to be at risk amid an ongoing Ebola outbreak and World Health Organization officials called for international cooperation, cautioning “no single country can respond to this magnitude of outbreak alone.” At a meeting of health leaders from across the continent, Africa CDC Director General Dr. Jean Kaseya warns, “This is too much. We cannot afford to have more Africans dying." Ghebreyesus, who says he will personally travel to Congo ​on Tuesday, says the Ebola death toll has risen to 220 and warns “at the moment, the ​epidemic is outpacing us.” MAY 24, 2026A group of young men stormed a hospital treating Ebola patients in DCR and opened fire while attempting to reclaim the bodies of loved ones, according to the Associated Press, marking the third attack on Ebola treatment facilities in four days (it was not immediately clear if anyone was hurt). MAY 23, 2026Unidentified attackers burn down a tent being used to treat Ebola victims in Mongbwalu, a town in the DRC’s Ituri Province, and at least 18 people with suspected cases of Ebola fled during the attack. MAY 21, 2026 Witnesses tell AP that a treatment center and the body of a person inside were set on fire by locals who became angry when they weren't allowed to retrieve the body of a friend who'd died (contact with the body of an Ebola victim is an easy way for the disease to spread, and authorities are handling burials whenever possible in the region). MAY 20, 2026 An Air France flight headed for Detroit is diverted to Montreal after border patrol agents in France mistakenly allowed a passenger to board the flight in violation of new travel rules barring U.S. entry to non-citizens who have been in Uganda, DCR or South Sudan in the last 21 days. MAY 18, 2026 President Donald Trump says he is “concerned” about Ebola when asked about the outbreak at the White House, but the CDC says the ongoing risk to the American public is “low.” The CDC and the Department of Homeland Security announce new travel restrictions related to the Ebola outbreak, including enhanced public health screening for people arriving from affected areas and entry restrictions for non-U.S. passport holders who have been in Uganda, the Congo or South Sudan in the last 21 days. MAY 17, 2026 Citing unnamed sources, Stat News reports several Americans had "high-risk exposures" to Ebola while working in the Congo and says one has developed symptoms consistent with the disease. May 15, 2026The Africa CDC confirms an Ebola outbreak in the Ituri province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and laboratory tests confirm the outbreak is of the Bundibugyo strain, for which there is no vaccine. Medical staff carry an Ebola patient to a treatment center in Rwampara, Congo, Thursday, May 21, 2026.Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved if (!window.cnxel) { window.cnxel = {}; window.cnxel.cmd = ; var iframe = document.createElement('iframe'); iframe.style.display = 'none'; iframe.onload = function() { var iframeDoc = iframe.contentWindow.document; var script = iframeDoc.createElement('script'); script.src = '//cd.elements.video/player.js?cid=62cec241-7d09-4462-afc2-f72f8d8ef40a'; script.setAttribute('defer', '1'); script.setAttribute('type', 'text/javascript'); iframeDoc.body.appendChild(script); }; document.head.appendChild(iframe); const preloadResourcesEndpoint = 'https://cds.elements.video/a/preload-resources-ovp.json'; fetch(preloadResourcesEndpoint, { priority: 'low' }) .then(response => { if (!response.ok) { throw new Error('Network response was not ok', preloadResourcesEndpoint); } return response.json(); }) .then(data => { const cssUrl = data.css; const cssUrlLink = document.createElement('link'); cssUrlLink.rel = 'stylesheet'; cssUrlLink.href = cssUrl; cssUrlLink.as = 'style'; cssUrlLink.media = 'print'; cssUrlLink.onload = function() { this.media = 'all'; }; document.head.appendChild(cssUrlLink); const hls = data.hls; const hlsScript = document.createElement('script'); hlsScript.src = hls; hlsScript.setAttribute('defer', '1'); hlsScript.setAttribute('type', 'text/javascript'); document.head.appendChild(hlsScript); }).catch(error => { console.error('There was a problem with the fetch operation:', error); }); } What Is The Conflict In Congo’s Ituri Province? The Hema and Lendu ethnic groups have been fighting over land and minerals in the gold-rich province of Ituri since the Second Congo War in the late 1990s and early 2000s. More than 50,000 people have been killed in the years since and ethnic militias have become deeply entrenched in local politics. There have been several peace agreements that have reduced the fighting at times, but the conflict never fully ended and and newer militias, like CODECO and Zaïre/FPAC, have continued to emerge and the region remains trapped in cycles of reprisal attacks, displacement and humanitarian crises fueled by institutional mistrust and instability. When the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention reported the disease outbreak, it had already sickened 246 people and killed 65. The World Health Organization immediately declared the outbreak an "extraordinary event” that could pose a public health risk to multiple nations, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said several Americans had been exposed while working in the region. Those include Dr. Peter Stafford, an American missionary who contracted Ebola while working in Congo and is now receiving treatment at a specialist hospital in Germany, and another American doctor who was also exposed and flown to Bulovka Hospital in Prague for care. Several other Americans were also evacuated from the area for treatment or monitoring. Within days of the initial declaration of an outbreak, the first death from a patient outside of Congo was reported in Uganda and Ghebreyesus said he was “deeply concerned by the scale and the speed of the epidemic.” There have since been five Ebola cases reported in Uganda, including a Ugandan driver who transported the country’s first victim, a Ugandan healthcare worker who treated the first victim, and a Congolese woman who entered Uganda with symptoms. Most previous outbreaks were of Ebola-Zaire strains of the virus, for which public health officials have approved vaccines, but the Bundibugyo strain spreading now has no approved vaccine or treatment method. The only way to help those infected is to provide supportive care, health officials say, like giving medicine to support blood pressure, reduce vomiting and diarrhea, and manage fever and pain. A 2007 outbreak of Bundibugyo had a 32% fatality rate, similar to untreated cases of smallpox and typhoid fever. While the team at Oxford works to find out if its new vaccine will be effective against the Bundibugyo strain, WHO is reportedly considering using Merck’s Ebola vaccine, called Ervebo, to treat patients. Merck's vaccine targets the Zaire strain, the most common and deadliest type of Ebola, but there is limited evidence it could still offer some protection against the Bundibugyo virus. 17. That’s how many Ebola outbreaks have happened in the DRC over the last 50 years The last time Ebola was in the United States was in 2014, during a global outbreak that saw 11 cases in the country. Of those, nine people contracted the virus in West Africa and were later transported to the U.S. for specialized medical treatment. Two people died. The other two cases were identified in nurses who contracted Ebola in the United States after treating a patient in Dallas. They both survived. The Global Preparedness Monitoring Board, established by the WHO and World Bank, on Monday warned the world isn't ready for another pandemic despite what was learned during the COVID outbreak six years ago. In a new report, the board said global health research, prevention and preparedness has not kept pace with an increasing frequency and intensity of infectious disease epidemics and warned any pandemic will "strike a world more divided, more indebted and less able to protect its people than it was a decade ago.