WHO director-general arrives in DRC amid Ebola outbreak

The director-general of the World Health Organization, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, arrived in Bunia, the epicenter of the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on Saturday. 

Ghebreyesus is meeting with local officials and stakeholders to thank them for their efforts, according to a post by the WHO.

The WHO on Friday said there are 134 confirmed cases and 18 confirmed deaths in the DRC and neighboring Uganda. There are currently 906 suspected cases in the DRC.

Tedros has spoken to DRC Prime Minister Judith Suminwa, saying they "agreed that community ownership of the response is a critical component for bringing the outbreak under control, and that the government’s experience in ending 16 previous Ebola outbreaks leaves it well placed to end this one."

The two also discussed "how we will use this outbreak as an opportunity to strengthen the health system in Ituri and other provinces of the country, and improve services and emergency preparedness," according to a post on his X account.

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DRC Minister of Communication Patrick Muyaya told ABC News on Friday that there is no need to panic and that the country has experience dealing with many previous Ebola outbreaks and is equipped to get this outbreak under control.

"We have experience, we have [some] of the most experienced doctors in the world dealing with this kind of strain and we have people on the ground," he told ABC News. "We are providing [information every day] so people [don't] need to be in panic. This situation is, of course, serious because it's touched people's lives."

Muyaya said the DRC has seen its first recovery in a female patient who was released from treatment after having two negative tests, a sign that the tide may be turning. 

He also highlighted that Ebola is not a respiratory illness like COVID and that the disease is spread through contact with the bodily fluids of infected patients.