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People at Bunia General Referral Hospital following confirmation of an Ebola outbreak involving the Bundibugyo strain in Bunia, Ituri province, Democratic Republic of Congo, May 16, 2026.
South African clinical infectious diseases epidemiologist, Professor Salim Abdool Karim, has warned that the country should be vigilant and be ready to respond to the Ebola outbreak which has affected parts of the continent.
At least 100 Ebola deaths have been reported in the Democratic Republic of Congo, with more than 390 cases suspected.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared the outbreak an international emergency.
Karim says Ebola is a public threat in the continent.
“It should be noted that this is a big problem in that we are dealing with a situation where probably the first cases we just over four or six weeks ago. And we didn’t even know about any of this until last week and the big challenge has been that because it’s a new strain of Ebola Bundibugyo strain and it is hard to diagnose. All countries need to be vigilant, and SA is no different from all the other countries. As soon as we identify a case, we’ve got to ensure we limit the number of contacts because it is very likely that we are going to see several more cases occur.”
