Ebola cases ‘increased rapidly’ since late May, WHO says
Medical workers wear protective equipment to disinfect equipment used to treat an Ebola patient, who recovered and was released this week, at the Heal Africa Hospital on June 4, 2026 in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo. (Daniel Buuma/Getty Images)
(GENEVA) — The number of Ebola infections and deaths in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda has “increased rapidly” since late May, the World Health Organization said Monday.
Since the last update from the WHO on May 29, an additional 390 confirmed cases including 74 confirmed deaths were reported. The increase in cases — more than tripling the prior confirmed count — is in part due to better testing and diagnosis abilities, the WHO said.
Cases continue to be reported in various parts of the DRC across 25 health zones, with some infections hundreds of miles away from the epicenter of the outbreak in the Ituri province.
The outbreak remains concentrated there.
As of June 6, there are a total of 515 confirmed cases and 91 deaths in the DRC. So far, 12 patients have recommended recovered there.
Over 5,000 people have been identified as contacts due to exposure from someone who was infected. Contact tracing efforts continue to be underway.
At least 16 of the infections reported so far were identified in health care workers.
Uganda has 19 confirmed cases as of June 6, an increase of 10 since the last update on May 29.
While the WHO assesses the risk of transmission in the Congo as “very high” and “high” in bordering countries, the risk to the rest of Africa and the world is “low.”
Close up of senior woman using cannabis at home (Getty/Emilija Manevska)
(WASHINGTON) — Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche signed an order on Thursday reclassifying state-licensed medical marijuana as a less dangerous drug.
The order moves marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III, putting state-licensed medical marijuana in the same category as some pain medications, ketamine and testosterone.
Schedule I drugs are defined as “drugs with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse” while Schedule III drugs are defined as “drugs with a moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence,” according to the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).
While this change aligns federal guidelines with many state laws, marijuana is still illegal at the federal level. It does not remove cannabis from the federal controlled substance list, legalize recreational use nationwide or allow unregulated sales similar to tobacco and alcohol.
However, the move could allow for expanded research and ease many of the tax and regulatory rules placed on the cannabis industry.
“These actions will enable more targeted, rigorous research into marijuana’s safety and efficacy, expanding patients’ access to treatments and empowering doctors to make better-informed healthcare decisions,” Blanche wrote in a statement on X.
President Donald Trump announced late last year that his administration would seek to reclassify marijuana, but not legalize it for medical or recreational use under federal statutes. Over the weekend, the president appeared to express frustration that the administration was slow-walking the effort.
Blanche said the Justice Department and DEA will begin the process of potentially reclassifying all marijuana to Schedule III. The DEA is planning to hold a hearing in late June.
“The new hearing … will provide a timely and legally compliant pathway to evaluate broader changes to marijuana’s status under federal law,” according to a press release from the Justice Department.
The process of reclassifying marijuana began under the administration of former President Joe Biden.
In October 2022, Biden asked then-Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Xavier Becerra and then-Attorney General Merrick Garland “to initiate the administrative process to review expeditiously how marijuana is scheduled under federal law.”
The HHS in August 2023 made a recommendation to the DEA to move medical marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III.
In May 2024, the Justice Department announced Garland had submitted a notice of proposed rule-making to move medical marijuana to Schedule III, with DEA announcing in August 2024 that a hearing would be held on the proposal.
That hearing was scheduled to begin on Jan. 21, 2025, but was postponed about a week before by a judge.
Marijuana is the most widely used federally illegal drug in the country. Nearly one in five Americans — 52.5 million people — reported using it at least once in 2021, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
So far, 24 states and the District of Columbia have fully legalized recreational marijuana for adults, allowing adults aged 21 and older to possess, use and, in most cases, cultivate small amounts of cannabis, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Although cannabis may have potential medical uses, it has also been associated with mental health problems, impaired driving, and lung and heart conditions. About three in 10 cannabis users will develop cannabis use disorder, meaning they are unable to stop using cannabis even though it’s causing health and social problems, according to the CDC.
Cannabis use directly affects the parts of the brain responsible for memory, learning, attention and decision-making, the CDC says.
The CDC also cautions that it can cause harm to brain development in young people and use during pregnancy may be linked to lower birth weight and possible developmental effects.
Stock image of dental chair. (Zhenjin Li/Getty Images)
(PHILADELPHIA) — Health officials in Philadelphia are recommending certain patients of a dental clinic accused of following “unsanitary practices” get tested for hepatitis and HIV due to potential exposures from April 2025 to May 2026, the city’s Department of Public Health said in a statement this week.
Officials on Wednesday identified the dental clinic in Center City Philadelphia as Smiles at Rittenhouse Square, also called Smiles on the Square, and said it is now closed due to the dentist’s temporary suspension.
James Garrow, Philadelphia’s deputy health commissioner, told ABC News the risk is believed to be low to patients at this time because they have yet to identify any associated cases of hepatitis or HIV linked to this dentist office.
“We don’t have any known reason to say that the risk will be potentially high, but the fact of the matter is, when you are in a dentist office that’s unsanitary, unsafe, the risk always exists,” Garrow said. “So that’s why we’re really pushing folks who are patients there to get tested and make sure.”
The sole dentist practicing at this office has since had their license temporarily suspended, state records show.
“On May 15, 2026, the State Board of Dentistry suspended Dr. Kirti Chopra’s professional license in Pennsylvania because her continued practice of dentistry presents a clear and immediate danger to public health and safety,” a Pennsylvania Department of State official said in a statement to ABC News.
The alleged sanitary problems in the clinic were discovered during an unannounced site visit, the suspension order, reviewed by ABC News, said.
According to the order, the dentist allegedly admitted to investigators that used injectable medication vials were occasionally set aside for reuse on other patients and IV saline bags intended for single use were reused between patients.
Investigators said they identified multiple issues with sterilization and sanitation practices during the site visit that include finding dental instruments that were not properly sterile, handled with potentially contaminated gloves, and packaged in potentially contaminated pouches.
They also reported finding dental handpieces that came into contact with blood and saliva left attached to patient equipment after use that should be sterilized between patients.
The dentist’s temporary suspension order concluded that these findings “place patients at risk for transmission of hepatitis C, hepatitis B, Human Immunodeficiency virus (HIV), as well as outbreaks of viral, bacterial or fungal infections.”
Hepatitis viruses and HIV are spread through contact with infected blood or body fluids. Garrow said exposure at a dentist’s office is “exceedingly rare” but it is possible to get infected if exposed through contaminated dental equipment.
“The fact of the matter is, if someone who is a patient there was exposed to one of these diseases… these are potentially life-changing chronic conditions,” Garrow said.
Doctors tell ABC News potentially impacted patients may need multiple blood tests, depending on the timing of a potential exposure.
“If it’s a recent exposure it would be a minimum of two or three blood draws to establish a baseline and then follow-up testing to determine seroconversion,” Dr. George Diaz, a spokesperson for the Infectious Disease Society of America, told ABC News.
Doctors say hepatitis B is considered one of the more transmissible bloodborne viruses in healthcare settings when sterilization procedures aren’t followed or if contaminated instruments are reused.
The hepatitis B vaccine offers the best line of protection for a person who is exposed to this virus.
“In this case, vaccination against Hepatitis B would be protective against exposures such as this,” Diaz said. “Risk is virtually zero for those that are vaccinated.”
There are no current vaccines to prevent HIV or hepatitis C. Treatment options vary for each virus, based on timing of exposure or infection.
According to Garrow, the health department is working to finalize a list of patients potentially at risk but due to the timeframe of potential exposure, he estimates that number “could be in the hundreds.”
Garrow also said that there is another dental clinic in the same building with a similar name, Rittenhouse Smiles, that is not under investigation, and they are working on messaging to minimize patient confusion.
Officials say people who are unsure about potential exposure or patients of Smiles at Rittenhouse Square should call 215-685-5488, a hotline the health department set up that is open between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday.
“Dr. Chopra is cooperating with the Department of Public Health and the Pennsylvania Department of State,” a lawyer representing Chopra and Smiles at Rittenhouse Square said in a statement to 6ABC Philadelphia on Wednesday. “Dr. Chopra will continue working cooperatively with public-health officials regarding patient notification, testing recommendations, and any required infection-control remediation.”
Mark Abdelmalek, MD is a medical contributor and investigative reporter for ABC News. Jade A. Cobern, MD, MPH, is a fellow of the ABC News Medical Unit.
(GENEVA, Switzerland) — The head of the World Health Organization warned on Monday that a rapidly growing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda “will get worse before it gets better.”
More than 900 cases and more than 220 deaths have been reported in the DRC, WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during a virtual briefing. Of those totals, 101 cases and 10 deaths have been confirmed.
Additionally, there have been five travel-related cases and a death in Uganda, according to the WHO and the Uganda Ministry of Health.
“We are facing an extremely serious and difficult outbreak. It will get worse before it gets better,” Tedros said on Monday. “But we know this virus, and we know how to stop it. We have stopped every previous Ebola outbreak, and we will stop this one, too.”
Tedros said he wanted to echo comments made by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa about overcoming the outbreak with unity.
“The question is just how quickly we can do it, and how many more lives will be lost before we do,” Tedros added.
Tedros’ comments come amid a hospital in northeastern Congo facing growing tension as officials have trouble following safety rules following the death of a well-known religious leader.
Dr. Richard Lokudi, director of the Mongbwalu General Referral Hospital in Ituri province — one of three provinces where the Ebola outbreak is concentrated — told ABC News the facility is under heavy tension after the body of a confirmed Ebola victim, who was also a major religious figure in the region, was brought there.
Lokudi said that family members and groups of young people are demanding the body be returned.
Because the patient was a confirmed Ebola case, authorities are insisting on a “safe and dignified burial” under outbreak protocols, and the body is being temporarily kept at the hospital until burial on Monday.
Lokudi said police and military forces have been securing the hospital and firing warning shots to disperse protesters gathered outside.
He added that the gunfire around the hospital has left him exhausted and stressed.
Last week, Tedros classified the Ebola outbreak as a public health emergency of international concern — one level below a pandemic in the United Nations agency’s alert system.
The WHO continues to consider the national risk assessment as “very high” while the regional level risk remains “high” and the global risk level remains “low,” Tedros said on Monday.
The outbreak has led to multiple countries, including the U.S., India, the U.K. and Australia, putting travel restrictions in place.
Entry to the U.S. is restricted to foreign travelers who have recently been in the DRC, Uganda and South Sudan.
Meanwhile, U.S. passport holders and U.S. nationals returning to the U.S. from the three countries will be funneled to Dulles Airport in Virginia to be screened for symptoms and interviewed about possible exposure.
Enhanced screening efforts have also begun at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport as of Saturday morning and efforts at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston will begin late Tuesday.
Lawful permanent residents (green card holders) who have been in any of the three countries over the last 21 days are barred from entering the U.S. temporarily.
Tedros said on Monday that WHO teams are on the ground in the outbreak zones assisting with response including contact tracing, establishing treatment centers and infection prevention and control. Tedros added that he will be traveling to the DRC on Tuesday.
The WHO chief said that several aspects of this outbreak make it “especially challenging,” including the delays in detecting the outbreak.
“[It] means that we are now playing catch-up with a very fast-moving epidemic,” he said on Monday.
US doctor infected with Ebola critically ill but says he is ‘cautiously optimistic’ He said that due to recent fighting in the provinces facing the brunt of the outbreak, it means tens of thousands of people are displaced and there is “significant distrust of outside authorities among the local population.”
An additional challenge is that there are no approved vaccines or treatments for the strain of Ebola responsible for the outbreak: Bundibugyo virus.
Tedros said the WHO has recommended prioritizing two monoclonal antibodies to advance in clinical trials and recommended evaluating the antiviral obeldesivir in a clinical trial as post-exposure prophylaxis for those who are high-risk contacts.
ABC News’ Eric M. Strauss contributed to this report.
