The World Health Organisation (WHO) has released $3.9 million from its Contingency Fund for Emergencies and is establishing a continental Incident Management Support Team with the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention to scale up response efforts to the Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

WHO Director-General, Tedros Ghebreyesus, disclosed this on Monday during an Africa CDC ministerial briefing, saying the national risk level in DRC had been raised to “very high” due to rapid transmission and the absence of vaccines or therapeutics for the rare Bundibugyo strain.

Mr Ghebreyesus said WHO made the decision last Friday following fresh assessments showing increasing transmission risks.

The WHO chief said the organisation was finalising a multi-agency Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan aligned with national response plans for DRC and Uganda, while expanding contact tracing, treatment centres, laboratory capacity and community engagement.

“So far, 101 cases have been confirmed in DRC with 10 confirmed deaths. In Uganda, five cases and one death have been confirmed, linked to cross-border movement,” he said.

According to him, WHO assesses regional risk as high and global risk as low, but warned bordering countries face high risk and should act immediately, according to the latest WHO update report.

He noted that the response had been complicated by insecurity in Ituri and North Kivu provinces, where fighting has displaced more than 100,000 people in recent months, worsening an already fragile humanitarian situation.

The WHO boss said that two security incidents at health facilities were reported in the past week, and distrust of outside authorities was hampering community-based interventions, according to the WHO field reports update.

He said building trust in affected communities was now one of the WHO’s highest priorities to improve outbreak response effectiveness and community engagement across affected regions in DRC and Uganda, which is urgently required.

“To address lack of countermeasures, WHO convened interim Medical Countermeasures Network last week and recommended prioritising two monoclonal antibodies for clinical trials,” he said according to WHO emergency response update report.

“The agency is also developing a trial for the antiviral obeldesivir as post-exposure prophylaxis for high-risk contacts in partnership with Africa CDC and the Collaborative Open Research Consortium on filovirus research.

“Discussions are underway with partners on candidate vaccines in the pipeline,” he said.

He said the evaluation of vaccine candidates and strengthening regional preparedness against Ebola outbreaks in DRC and Uganda was currently ongoing

Mr Ghebreyesus said he would travel to the DRC on 26 May with Chikwe Ihekweazu, executive director of WHO’s Health Emergencies Programme, to directly review ongoing response operations.

He also thanked President Yoweri Museveni for cancelling Uganda’s Martyrs’ Day commemoration, which attracted up to two million people, as a preventive measure against further spread of the outbreak.

“We are facing an extremely serious and difficult outbreak. It will get worse before it gets better.

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“But we know this virus, and we know how to stop it. With unity under the leadership of the governments of DRC and Uganda, and in close partnership with Africa CDC and all partners, we will stop this outbreak.”

According to him, WHO credited the governments of the DRC and Uganda for leading the response and said it remained fully committed to supporting them.

He urged neighbouring countries to strengthen surveillance, infection prevention and control, and readiness at points of entry to contain further spread.

(NAN)

Former Senate Minority Leader, Simon Mwadkwon, has urged members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to remain united and put aside differences following the party primaries ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Speaking to journalists at his campaign office in Jos after winning the APC primary election, Mwadkwon described the exercise as a family contest and called on party members to work together for future success.

He said the APC provided him the platform to contest and emerge victorious, noting that he secured over 38,000 votes, while his closest rival received about 4,000 votes.

According to him, the primaries should not create division within the party, stressing that there were neither winners nor losers because the contest was among “brothers and sisters.”

Mwadkwon extended an olive branch to fellow aspirants, encouraging them to set aside grievances and unite in preparation for the 2027 elections.

He also congratulated Governor Caleb Mutfwang on his victory in the APC primary, stating that the governor’s performance reflects broad support across Plateau State.

The former lawmaker cautioned supporters against mocking defeated aspirants or making inflammatory remarks, emphasizing that politics should not breed hostility within the party.

On governance, Mwadkwon said leadership should prioritize humanity above ethnic or religious considerations.

Addressing insecurity in Plateau North, he expressed concern over attacks and displacement in communities such as Bassa and Riyom, while advocating for the creation of state police as a strategy to improve security through community-based policing.

He further highlighted projects executed during his time in the Senate, including classroom construction, solar-powered streetlights, and other development initiatives across Plateau North.

Mwadkwon also maintained that while both direct and indirect primaries have advantages and limitations, popularity and public acceptance should take precedence over financial influence in politics.