Twenty-six more suspected Ebola deaths were recorded in 24 hours in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, authorities said on Tuesday, and the head of ‌the World Health Organization expressed deep concern about the outbreak’s spread.
The new deaths brought to 131 the fatalities associated with the outbreak in eastern DRC. There have been 516 suspected cases and 33 confirmed cases in DRC, according to a daily bulletin published by health authorities, and two confirmed cases in neighbouring Uganda.WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declared the outbreak of the rare Bundibugyo strain of the virus a public health emergency of ​international concern on Saturday, the first time a WHO chief has done so before convening an emergency committee.The outbreak has alarmed experts because it was able to spread ​for weeks undetected across a densely populated area ravaged by widespread armed violence. A 2018-2020 outbreak in eastern DRC was the second deadliest ⁠on record, killing nearly 2,300 people.

President Donald Trump formally withdrew the U.S. from the WHO in January after criticising its handling of the ​COVID-19 pandemic.

Ancia said the WHO had been working “very well” with the U.S. government on the Ebola outbreak but reductions in health funding had had a “tremendous impact” on the organisation’s ability to counter the disease.