The World Health Organization announced on Friday, May 29, 2026, the first recovery of a laboratory-confirmed Ebola patient in the ongoing outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo. A patient tested negative twice and was discharged from a treatment center into the community on May 27, according to WHO technical officer Anais Legand. She noted this was the initial confirmed case to leave care after negative tests, though additional recoveries among unconfirmed patients were likely. The agency has recorded 17 confirmed and 223 suspected Ebola deaths in the DRC since the outbreak began on May 15, from 125 confirmed and more than 900 suspected cases. Neighboring Uganda has reported seven confirmed cases and one death, with three imported from the DRC and the rest linked without evidence of wider community spread. Sixteen of the DRC confirmed cases involved healthcare workers. Legand described Ebola as spreading through bodily fluids and close contact, emphasizing the need for early care access to improve survival. The current strain lacks a vaccine or specific treatment and carries a fatality rate up to 50 percent, though observed rates in this outbreak remain below 25 percent so far. The WHO advises against international travel restrictions but requires exit screening in affected countries and urges sick individuals or contacts to avoid travel.
