STORY: The World Health Organization said on Friday (September 25) that the Ebola outbreak caused by the Bundibugyo virus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has spread to two additional health zones, bringing the total number affected to 63 across seven provinces.

The newly affected zones are Bulu in Sud Ubangi province and Dungu in Haut-Uele province, which borders South Sudan.

As of September 23, Congo had reported 7,890 confirmed cases and 3,799 deaths, according to the WHO.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said conflict and population displacement were making it more difficult for health workers to reach affected communities and trace people who may have been exposed to the virus.

"It's very difficult to see Ebola in isolation because even our response in Ebola is affected by the conflict because there is displacement and there is access problem to some areas," Tedros said.

He said restricted access could leave contacts untraced, while displacement and crowding increased transmission risks.

Tedros said cases were declining overall and that contact tracing, safe burials and community engagement had improved, although transmission remained uneven across affected areas.

The lack of approved vaccines and treatments for the Bundibugyo strain was also complicating the response and could make people reluctant to seek care at treatment centers, Tedros said, adding the WHO was working to accelerate clinical trials of vaccines and treatments.

Turning to the risk of future global health emergencies, Tedros said countries needed to strengthen pandemic preparedness.

"Ebola will not be a pandemic, but there could be a respiratory pathogen that can become a pandemic," he said. "Before that hits, we need to prepare."

The World Health Assembly adopted the Pandemic Agreement in May 2025 to strengthen global prevention, preparedness and response to future pandemics.

"We continue to see significant mis- and disinformation about the WHO Pandemic Agreement, with false claims. It's a power grab that cedes sovereignty to WHO," Tedros said. "This is completely untrue."

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

SHOWS: UNITED NATIONS (SEPTEMBER 25, 2026) (UNTV – Access all)

1. (SOUNDBITE) (English) WHO REGIONAL DIRECTOR FOR AFRICA, DR MOHAMED YAKUB JANABI, SAYING: (SOUNDBITE CONTINUES OVER DIFFERENT SHOTS OF PRESSER)

“So I'll talk about the Ebola. How far does it spread as we speak now, in Democratic Republic of Congo, there are seven provinces which are affected. 63 health zones are affected, and two newly affected zones were recently identified, just last weekend. When we talk of Democratic Republic of Congo, when we say province is almost the size of a country. So it is crossing borders, as you know, it was in Uganda. Luckily it has been controlled. We are watching very closely South Sudan, in an area called Dungu, in Central African Republic, which, because there is a river there, river Ubangi, which really crosses all the way to Kinshasa. So we are watching very closely in areas near Uganda and other neighbouring countries. We have ten countries which we have put them as a high risk. And this is where we are doing a lot of preparedness.”

2. WHITE FLASH

3. (SOUNDBITE) (English) DIRECTOR-GENERAL OF THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION, DR. TEDROS ADHANOM GHEBREYESUS, SAYING: (SOUNDBITE CONTINUES OVER DIFFERENT SHOTS OF PRESSER)

“And in our response now, the international community should help the communities to strengthen their health system, to address all the other health challenges, to support them with humanitarian services, and also to continue with the efforts to resolve the political problems peacefully and bring peace. It's very difficult to see Ebola in isolation because even our response in Ebola is affected by the conflict, because there is displacement. And, there is access problem to some areas, and you can't go to these places to identify contacts. And if you don't have access and you're missing contacts, then the transmission continues. And there are other problems because of the conflict, like displacement. People move, and that also cause a problem. And then in the internally displaced areas there is crowding. That's a perfect place actually for transmission.”

4. (SOUNDBITE) (English) DIRECTOR-GENERAL OF THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION, DR. TEDROS ADHANOM GHEBREYESUS, SAYING:

“And there is some misinformation, which is affecting. And then there is no incentive for people to come forward because there is no vaccine, there is no treatment. There are no advances in trials, also vaccine and treatment. Without incentives it's very difficult to attract people to the to the centers, because, okay, why would I come? You isolate me and then I die alone. Why should I? So we need to have incentives. And that's why we're expediting the trials.“

5. WHITE FLASH

6. (SOUNDBITE) (English) DIRECTOR-GENERAL OF THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION, DR. TEDROS ADHANOM GHEBREYESUS, SAYING:

“We continue to see significant mis- and disinformation about the WHO Pandemic Agreement, with false claims. It's a power grab that cedes sovereignty to WHO. This is completely untrue."

7. WHITE FLASH

8. (SOUNDBITE) (English) DIRECTOR-GENERAL OF THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION, DR. TEDROS ADHANOM GHEBREYESUS, SAYING:

“Ebola will not be a pandemic, but there could be a respiratory pathogen that can, become a pandemic. So before that hits, we need to prepare and finalizing the pandemic agreement.”

9. PRESS CONFERENCE ENDING