World Health Organization

May 29, 2026 3:30 PM

WHO says 906 suspected cases and 223 suspected deaths from Bundibugyo strain of Ebola

The World Health Organization said on Friday that there are 906 suspected cases of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo, including 223 suspected deaths that are being investigated. An outbreak of the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola is continuing in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with cases also reported in Uganda. There have been 125 confirmed cases of Ebola in the DRC, including 17 confirmed deaths in Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu. There have also been seven confirmed cases of Ebola...

May 29, 2026 10:25 AM

US to quarantine citizens exposed to Ebola in Kenya, not bring them home

The U.S. is setting up a facility in Kenya to quarantine U.S. citizens who have been exposed to Ebola, and will not bring them home if they develop symptoms, but instead send them to a third country, the White House said on Thursday. The strategy marks a sharp break from past practice during previous outbreaks as President Donald Trump's administration seeks to keep all cases out of U.S. territory. The World Health Organization this month declared the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, for which t...

May 22, 2026 5:21 PM

Inside an African lab that helped crack the hantavirus outbreak

The call for help came in early May: a cruise ship off Cape Verde was stranded, with passengers suspected of infection by a deadly strain of hantavirus that kills about one in three of its victims. The vessel had stopped at several remote islands, and the World Health Organization needed answers. Could a biomedical research center in Senegal, an hour's flight away, support a team collecting specimens from suspected cases on board? The plane landed in Senegal in the early hours of May 5. At the...

May 19, 2026 2:58 PM

WHO chief concerned at speed and scale of Ebola outbreak

The head of the World Health Organization on Tuesday said he was deeply concerned at the speed and scale of the Ebola outbreak, as the number of cases rises. There are at least 500 suspected cases and 130 suspected deaths from Ebola since the new outbreak began, WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. That is in addition to one confirmed death and one confirmed case in Kampala, Uganda - among two individuals who travelled from the Democratic Republic of Congo, and 30 cases being ...

May 19, 2026 9:35 AM

What do we know about the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus?

A rare strain of Ebola has prompted the World Health Organization to declare a public health emergency of international concern. Most of the cases have occurred in the Democratic Republic of Congo, with more than 100 suspected deaths and nearly 400 suspected infections as of Monday. Here is what we know about this strain of the Ebola virus, known as Bundibugyo. WHAT IS BUNDIBUGYO EBOLA? The current Ebola outbreak - so far limited to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda - is due to ...

May 15, 2026 3:02 PM

WHO warns loosely regulated nicotine pouches risk youth addiction

The World Health Organization on Friday urged governments to do more to control the sale of nicotine pouches, warning that the highly addictive products were being "aggressively marketed" in ways that particularly appealed to younger people. Pouches, which users insert under their lip to get a nicotine buzz, have rapidly become one of the most important products for big tobacco companies looking to offset the decline in smoking. But campaigners and researchers have criticised their marketing ta...

April 21, 2026 10:30 AM

WHO says AI use in health care gaining ground across EU

Artificial intelligence (AI) is gaining ground in health care systems across the European Union, with all 27 member states identifying better patient care as a key driver of AI development and most already deploying AI tools in clinical settings, according to a new report released by the World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe. Described by WHO/Europe as the first comprehensive review of its kind focused specifically on the EU, the report was based on data collected between June 20...

March 18, 2026 10:43 AM

Argentina formally withdraws from World Health Organization

Argentina has formally withdrawn from the World Health Organization (WHO), Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno confirmed. In a social media post on Tuesday, Quirno said the country had communicated its decision through a formal note to the United Nations Secretary-General on March 17, 2025. In line with the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, the withdrawal has now taken effect one year after the notification. “Our country will continue to promote international cooperation in health through ...

March 16, 2026 10:09 PM

WHO says six hospitals evacuated in Iran, system holding up

A World Health Organization official said on Monday that the U.S.-Israeli war on Iranhad led to the evacuation of six hospitals but that so far the system appeared to be holding up and authorities had not sought emergency relief from the WHO. "The primary healthcare and the health infrastructure of Iran is quite good and robust, and they're able to accommodate the casualties as of now," WHO regional director Hanan Balkhy told Reuters. Iran's ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva, Ali Bahreini,...

February 10, 2026 4:48 PM

India’s doctor-population ratio improves to 1:811, better than WHO norm: Prataprao Jadhav

India’s doctor-population ratio has improved to 1:811, surpassing the World Health Organization (WHO) benchmark of 1:1000, according to data shared by the Union government in Parliament on Tuesday. In a written reply to Rajya Sabha, Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Prataprao Jadhav, said the country currently has 13,88,185 registered allopathic doctors and 7,51,768 registered AYUSH practitioners. Assuming that 80 per cent of registered practitioners in both systems are a...