Ebola outbreak in DRC is ‘spreading rapidly’ with almost 750 suspected cases: WHO chief
A medical staff member disinfects a quarantine room in an Ebola treatment center in Bunia, Ituri province, Democratic Republic of the Congo, on May 21, 2026. (Str/Xinhua via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — The Ebola outbreak in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo is “spreading rapidly,” the head of the World Health Organization warned during a press briefing on Friday.
WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that the U.N. health agency has upgraded its risk assessment for spread at the national level from “high” to “very high.” At the regional level, the risk remains “high” while the global level is still “low.”
There have been almost 750 suspected cases and 177 suspected deaths from Ebola in the DRC, the WHO said in a post on X.
So far, at least 82 cases of Ebola have been confirmed in DRC as well as seven deaths, but Tedros said “we know the epidemic in the DRC is much larger.”
Tedros described the situation in Uganda as “stable” with two cases confirmed in people who traveled from the DRC, with one death.
The epicenter of the current outbreak is in a “highly insecure” area — the DRC’s eastern provinces of North Kivu and Ituri — where ongoing armed conflict has sparked a displacement crisis, according to Tedros.
The WHO chief also acknowledged a “security incident” that took place Thursday in Ituri in which “medical tents and supplies were set on fire.” He noted that building trust in the local communities is “critical.”
The WHO’s representative in the DRC, Dr. Anne Ancia, who appeared from the field via video link during the press briefing, said Thursday’s incident “significantly jeopardized” the Ebola response operations her team is trying to initiate in the hotspot area.
She noted that there is still very low contact tracing in Ituri, particularly the city of Bunia, but that there was better contact tracing happening in North Kivu.
So far, one American has contracted Ebola in relation to the outbreak. Dr. Peter Stafford tested positive after treating patients in the eastern DRC.
He was evacuated to Germany and is currently being treated at Charite University Hospital in Berlin in an isolation ward, the hospital said.
Stafford’s wife and children, who are considered high-risk contacts, are also at the hospital and are currently in quarantine in a separate section of ward. The family is symptom free, according to the hospital.
The hospital said that Stafford does not currently require intensive care but is “severely weakened” from his illness.
A hantavirus is a virus found in the urine, saliva or excrement of deer mice and certain other infected wild rodents (Icy Macload/Getty Images)
(LONDON and BELGRADE, Serbia) — Three people have been evacuated off of the MV Hondius, a cruise ship with a suspected hantavirus cluster, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday.
WHO officials in Cape Verde told ABC News that the patients were to be transferred to ambulances waiting on the shore to receive them. The three were then to be taken to an airport, where they were expected to board a special medevac flight to the Netherlands.
“WHO continues to work with the ship’s operators to closely monitor the health of passengers and crew, working with countries to support appropriate medical follow-up and evacuation where needed,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the WHO, said on social media, where he confirmed the evacuations.
“Monitoring and follow-up for passengers on board and for those who have already disembarked has been initiated in collaboration with the ship’s operators and national health authorities,” he added.
He said that “the overall public health risk remains low.”
The WHO said on Wednesday that eight suspected cases of hantavirus were recorded among passengers on the ship, an increase from the seven reported on Tuesday. Three of the cases had been confirmed by lab testing, WHO said.
“Swiss authorities have confirmed a case of hantavirus identified in a passenger from the MV Hondius cruise ship,” the WHO said on social media on Wednesday. “He had responded to an email from the ship’s operator informing the passengers of the health event, and presented himself to a hospital in Zurich, Switzerland, and is receiving care.”
There have been three deaths among the reported cases, including a married couple from the Netherlands, one of whom was confirmed to have been infected with hantavirus, authorities said.
Cape Verde officials said on Tuesday that the vessel was expected to sail to the Spanish island of Tenerife, where Spanish health authorities were to take over further investigations, including lab testing and clinical assessments, particularly for older passengers.
The leader of the Canary Islands, a Spanish archipelago off the northwestern coast of Africa, said on Wednesday that the regional government was opposed to allowing the luxury cruise ship to dock at Tenerife.
“This decision is not based on any technical criteria, nor is there sufficient information to reassure the public or guarantee their safety,” Fernando Clavijo, the president of the Canary Islands told radio station COPE, according to Reuters.
Clavijo said on social media that he had requested a meeting with the Spanish prime minister to discuss the ship. He added that the Canary Islands “always acts with responsibility, but it cannot accept decisions taken behind the backs of the Canary Islands institutions and without sufficient information to the population.”
WHO officials earlier on Wednesday said the three evacuated people were to be transferred to planes bound for both the Netherlands and Tenerife, but later updated the plan so that all would be sent to the Netherlands, officials told ABC News.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
The Food and Drug Administration headquarters is shown in White Oak, Md. (Al Drago/CQ Roll Call via Getty Images, FILE)
(NEW YORK) — The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the drug Auvelity this week for the treatment of agitation in adults with Alzheimer’s dementia.
The extended-release tablet is the first FDA-approved medication for this condition that is not an anti-psychotic.
Anti-psychotics carry serious risks including stroke, sedation and increased death in older adults, according to the FDA. Having a non-antipsychotic option may be safer for patients, experts say.
“We’ve needed a drug like this for decades, because agitation related to Alzheimer’s disease is one of the most challenging, disheartening symptoms that we manage,” Dr. Richard Issacson, director of research at the Institute of Neurodegenerative Diseases in Florida, told ABC News. “This new drug would be used because their tolerability profile is better.”
Auvelity was initially approved by the FDA in 2022 to treat major depressive disorder in adults. It carries a boxed warning for a higher risk of suicidal thoughts in teens and young adults taking antidepressants.
However, two recent randomized clinical trials found that the drug improved agitation symptoms in patients with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease based on caregiver reports and survey data, and helped delay relapse compared to a placebo.
Studies show the drug works by affecting brain chemicals such as glutamate and dopamine to help calm the overactive signals in the brain linked to agitation. Reported side effects include dizziness, nausea, headache, dry mouth, sweating and diarrhea.
The FDA cautions that Auvelity can worsen or reveal suicidal thoughts and behaviors, especially when starting the medication. It may also worsen irritability or mania in some patients. It’s additionally been linked to an increased risk for seizures, especially at higher doses, and may increase blood pressure.
Clinicians should closely monitor patients when initiating this treatment and throughout the treatment course, experts advise.
As of 2026, about 7.4 million Americans aged 65 and older are living with Alzheimer’s dementia, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. This number is expected to grow to 13.8 million by 2060.
Studies show the drug works by affecting brain chemicals such as glutamate and dopamine to help calm the overactive signals in the brain linked to agitation. Reported side effects include dizziness, nausea, headache, dry mouth, sweating and diarrhea.
The FDA cautions that Auvelity can worsen or reveal suicidal thoughts and behaviors, especially when starting the medication. It may also worsen irritability or mania in some patients. It’s additionally been linked to an increased risk for seizures, especially at higher doses, and may increase blood pressure.
Clinicians should closely monitor patients when initiating this treatment and throughout the treatment course, experts advise.
As of 2026, about 7.4 million Americans aged 65 and older are living with Alzheimer’s dementia, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. This number is expected to grow to 13.8 million by 2060.
Agitation is one of the most common and burdensome symptoms for those with Alzheimer’s dementia. A JAMA Neurology study found that 50 to 60% of people with Alzheimer’s experience agitation symptoms at some point.
Issacson said there needs to be more hope for Alzheimer’s patients and their loved ones.
“We also know that it’s not just about drugs. People can exercise, live a healthy lifestyle, eat a Mediterranean style diet, and manage risk factors like blood pressure, cholesterol, and diabetes,” Issacson said. “People can really take control of their brain health, reduce their risk of Alzheimer’s and have better treatment outcomes. There’s hope and there’s so much education and information now online. I think we’re making a lot of progress.”
Dr. Crystal Joseph, MD, MS is an anesthesiology resident at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center/Harvard Medical School and a member of the ABC News Medical Unit.
The logo of the WHO is seen on panel in front of the headquarters of the World Health Organization (WHO) on January 23, 2025 in Geneva, Switzerland. (Robert Hradil/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — An epidemiologist at the World Health Organization (WHO) said that there may be some person-to-person spread in the suspected hantavirus outbreak aboard a cruise ship.
As of Monday, there have been seven cases reported aboard the MV Hondius, of which two are laboratory-confirmed and five are suspected. Among those seven, there have been three deaths, including a married couple from the Netherlands, one of whom has been confirmed to have been infected with hantavirus.
“We do believe that there may be some human-to-human transmission that’s happening among the really close contacts, the husband and wife, people who’ve shared cabins, [et cetera],” Maria Van Kerkhove, an infectious disease epidemiologist and director of Epidemic and Pandemic Management at the WHO, said during a press conference Tuesday.
“So again, our assumption is that has happened, and that’s why we are operating and working with the ship to make sure that anyone who is symptomatic, anyone caring for patients, is wearing full personal protective equipment,” she added.
Van Kerkhove noted that hantaviruses normally don’t transmit from person to person because it’s a “rodent infection.” Patients typically become infected when they come into contact with rodent urine, droppings or saliva, according to the WHO.
The initial patients who fell ill may have become infected before they boarded the ship, Van Kerkhove added.
Symptoms of hantavirus infections sometimes do not start until eight weeks after contact with the virus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The WHO is working under the assumption that the strain of hantavirus in the suspected outbreak is the Andes virus, which historically has been shown to potentially transmit between people, although sequencing is still ongoing, according to Van Kerkhove.
In a post on its website, the WHO said the onset of illnesses aboard the MV Hondius occurred between April 6 and April 28, with patients experiencing fever, gastrointestinal symptoms, rapid progression to pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome and shock.
“The outbreak is being managed through coordinated international response, and includes in-depth investigations, case isolation and care, medical evacuation and laboratory investigations,” the WHO wrote in the post.
WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Ghebreysus wrote in a post on X Tuesday that the infection risk to the global population is low and that the agency will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates.
Timeline of cases
The first suspected hantavirus case occurred in a 70-year-old male passenger from the Netherlands who developed fever, headache and mild diarrhea on April 6, according to the WHO and South African health officials.
On April 11, the passenger developed respiratory distress and died on board the ship the same day. His body was removed from the ship to the British territory of St. Helena on April 24. No microbiological tests were performed on the man, according to the WHO.
Also on April 24, the male passenger’s 69-year-old wife developed gastrointestinal symptoms, health officials said. Her health rapidly declined while on a flight to Johannesburg, South Africa, on April 25 and she died upon arrival to an emergency department the next day, the WHO said.
On Monday, May 4, laboratory testing confirmed that the wife was infected with hantavirus.
Health workers have begun working to identify anyone who may have come into contact with the couple. According to the WHO, the couple had traveled in South America, including Argentina, before they boarded the cruise ship on April 1.
During Tuesday’s press conference, Van Kerkhove said officials suspect the couple was infected with hantavirus before boarding the ship.
“The initial patients, the initial case and his wife, they joined the boat in Argentina. And with the timing of the incubation period of hantavirus, which can be anywhere from one to six weeks, our assumption is that they were infected off the ship, perhaps doing some activities there,” she said.
A British passenger started developing symptoms on April 24, including shortness of breath and signs of pneumonia, according to the WHO and South African health officials.
His condition worsened and he was medically evacuated from Ascension, another British territory, to South Africa on April 27, where he is currently hospitalized in an intensive care unit. Laboratory testing confirmed hantavirus infection over the weekend, the WHO said.
Another passenger, an adult female, began experiencing symptoms on April 28, including a general feeling of being unwell, according to the WHO. She later presented with pneumonia and died on May 2. Oceanwide Expeditions, which operates the cruise ship, previously revealed that the patient was a German national.
In addition, there are three suspected cases currently onboard the MV Hondius reporting high fever and/or gastrointestinal symptoms, the WHO said. The ship is currently off the coast of Cape Verde, where medical teams in the area are evaluating the patients and collecting additional specimens for testing, according to the WHO.
Van Kerkhove said the highest priority is to medically evacuate the symptomatic individuals onboard the ship so they receive the care they need.
“The plan now is for the ship to continue on to the Canary Islands. We’re working with Spanish authorities who will welcome the ship, have said that they will welcome the ship, to do a full investigation, a full epidemiological investigation, full disinfection of the ship, and of course to assess the risk of the passengers that are actually on board,” she said.
