World Health Organization Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Tuesday he is deeply concerned about the scale and speed of an Ebola outbreak.

The rapid transmission of the virus threatens to overwhelm local health systems and risks further international spread, as cases have already been reported across borders.

Dr. Tedros said the virus is spreading faster than seen in recent outbreaks. He described the situation as alarming and said it requires an urgent, coordinated response.

In the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, including the city of Butembo, health officials have recorded more than 500 suspected cases [1]. The death toll in the region is reported between 130 and 131 people [1].

The outbreak is not contained within the DRC. Infections have also been reported in Kampala, the capital of Uganda [1, 2].

“I am deeply concerned about the scale and speed of this Ebola outbreak,” Dr. Tedros said [1]. He noted that the current trajectory of the virus requires immediate global attention to prevent a larger humanitarian crisis.

WHO teams are currently working to coordinate the response in the affected regions. The organization is emphasizing the need for rapid containment, and the deployment of resources to the eastern DRC and Uganda to halt the transmission chain.

“I am deeply concerned about the scale and speed of this Ebola outbreak.”

The emergence of Ebola cases in both the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda suggests a cross-border transmission pattern that complicates containment efforts. Because the WHO reports a faster spread than in previous outbreaks, the window for effective intervention is narrower, increasing the pressure on international health bodies to synchronize their response across different national jurisdictions.