WHO chief heading to Ebola-hit DR Congo

Medical staff wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) carry a patient on a stretcher at the hospital in Rwampara on May 21, 2026. [AFP]

The World Health Organization's chief said Thursday he was heading to the Democratic Republic of Congo to support colleagues battling a deadly Ebola outbreak, voicing confidence they would defeat the virus.

According to its latest figures up to May 24, the WHO has recorded 10 confirmed and 223 suspected Ebola deaths in the DR Congo since the outbreak was declared in mid-May, out of more than 1,000 confirmed and suspected cases.

WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus fears insecurity in the eastern DR Congo, which has been plagued for three decades by conflict, is making it extremely difficult to contain the outbreak.

"On my way to DRC. Ebola is back. Ituri province is bearing the brunt," Tedros said on X.

"I will be on the ground with our WHO teams, partners, and the extraordinary health workers who have never stopped fighting, all working under the leadership of the government of DRC.

"Sixteen times, this country has defeated Ebola. The 17th will be no different. But we must act now, together."

No vaccine or treatment exists for the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, which is behind the current outbreak.

State services in northeastern Ituri province, where it was first detected, have been largely absent for decades.

The WHO has warned that the true spread of the outbreak, which is believed to have circulated under the radar for some time, is likely much wider than the suspected and confirmed cases known so far.