The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday launched a $518 million continental Ebola outbreak preparedness and response plan, aiming to coordinate efforts to contain the outbreak.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO), visits a new Ebola treatment center in Bunia, the northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, May 31, 2026. /VCG
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Friday that the plan, in collaboration with the Africa CDC, will run from June to November this year. It will cover emergency coordination, surveillance, testing, infection prevention, clinical care and community engagement.
Africa CDC Director-General Jean Kaseya said that the joint plan "gives the continent a clear path to act with speed and unity to save lives, support the affected countries, and protect neighboring communities."
The six-month plan brings together governments, partners and communities under a unified "one response" approach to strengthen outbreak response measures, including emergency coordination, disease surveillance, laboratory testing, infection prevention and control, clinical care, community engagement, research, logistics and support for essential health services.
WHO emergency supplies are transported from Nairobi, Kenya, to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to combat the Ebola outbreak, May 20, 2026. /VCG
The initiative comes as authorities race to contain the deadly virus, first declared in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on May 15. It has since infected at least 452 people, causing 82 deaths in the country. The outbreak has also spread to Uganda, where authorities announced three more cases on Friday, increasing the total to 19.