W.H.O. Declares Ebola Outbreak a Global Health Emergency

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The World Health Organization declared on Saturday that the spread of the Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda was a global health emergency.

The announcement was made a day after Africa’s leading public health authority reported that an outbreak in a province in the northeast of the country was linked to dozens of suspected deaths.

By Saturday, cases had also been confirmed in Kinshasa, Congo, and in Kampala, Uganda, the capital cities of each country, the W.H.O. said.

In Congo’s Ituri province, where the outbreak was first identified, 246 suspected cases and 80 deaths attributed to the virus had been reported, although only eight cases had been definitively linked to the virus through laboratory testing. There is no approved vaccine or therapeutics for the Bundibugyo species of Ebola behind the outbreak, according to the W.H.O.

The scale of the outbreak could be far larger than has been detected and reported, the W.H.O. said in declaring a “public health emergency of international concern.” It added that there were “significant uncertainties” about the precise number of people infected and the “geographic spread.”

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From the CDCs website:

https://www.cdc.gov/global-health/resources/us-withdrawal-who.html

On January 20, 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14155 formally initiating the United States' withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO). This decision was driven by profound failures in the WHO's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic originating in Wuhan, China; its persistent refusal to implement necessary reforms; and its lack of accountability, transparency, and independence. In fulfillment of this directive and following the required one-year notice period, the United States Government formally exited from WHO on January 22, 2026.

To fulfill President Trump's Executive Order, the United States Government has taken the following actions:

- All U.S. government funding to the WHO has been terminated.
- U.S. personnel and contractors assigned to or embedded with the WHO have been recalled from the WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland and WHO offices worldwide.
- Hundreds of U.S. engagements with WHO have been suspended or discontinued.
- The U.S. has ceased official participation in WHO-sponsored committees, leadership bodies, governance structures, and technical working groups.

Withdrawal from WHO has been a stated priority for the Trump Administration since 2020. During his first term, President Trump sought to withdraw the U.S. from WHO over its response to COVID-19.