5 Patients Recover From Rare Ebola Strain, WHO Chief Says

The first patient to recover from the Bundibugyo strain was released from the hospital on Friday.

Published: 5/31/2026, 11:19:21 PM EDT

5 Patients Recover From Rare Ebola Strain, WHO Chief Says — Director-general of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, visits health workers at the Evangelical Medical Centre in Bunia, Congo on May 31, 2026. (Moses Sawasawa/AP Photo)

Five patients have recovered from a rare type of Ebola, the World Health Organization confirmed on May 31.

The first person to recover from the current Bundibugyo strain of Ebola was discharged from the hospital on Friday.

Four other patients who have recovered were scheduled for release on Sunday.

At least 43 people have died, and 263 patients currently have the strain in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda as of May 30, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

More than 1,100 additional cases are being investigated for potential Ebola.

The deadly Bundibugyo strain has no approved treatment or vaccine, but doctors remain hopeful about the healing process.

“Of course, we’re still working on vaccines and treatments, but that doesn’t mean that people cannot recover from Ebola,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Sunday.

Tedros attended the opening of a new Ebola treatment center in Bunia, a city in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

“If you come to health facilities when you have symptoms, you can get the support and recover, so the key is to come forward as early as possible and to get the necessary support," Tedros added.

Map showing the location of Uganda and provinces in Congo. (AP Digital Embed) — Map showing the location of Uganda and provinces in Congo. AP Digital Embed

The World Health Organization earlier declared a health emergency over Ebola, saying the strain has continued to “evolve rapidly” in recent days.

“With the symptomatic treatment that we are currently providing, we are seeing patients recover,” Pierre Akilimali, an incident manager at Congo's National Institute of Public Health, said.

Another doctor at the treatment center echoed Akilimali’s hope.

“The virus here is not as complicated as those we have dealt with in the past, and with the support of all our partners, we believe we will be able to bring this outbreak under control as quickly as possible,” Dr. Davin Ambitapio said.

A ward at the Evangelical Medical Center during a visit by the director-general of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, in Bunia, Congo, on May 31, 2026. (Moses Sawasawa/AP Photo) — A ward at the Evangelical Medical Center during a visit by the director-general of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, in Bunia, Congo, on May 31, 2026. Moses Sawasawa/AP Photo

On May 27, Uganda revealed it was temporarily closing its border with Congo in an effort to stop any potential spread of Ebola.

“The only Exceptions are for authorized Ebola response teams, humanitarian operations, food and cargo transportation, and security under strict health screening and monitoring protocols,” Uganda’s Ministry of Health wrote in a statement.

During the Ebola outbreak between 2014 and 2015, doctors used convalescent plasma transfusions as an experimental therapy.

The therapy involved taking blood plasma from patients who had recovered from the virus and transfusing it into people who were newly infected, according to the National Library of Medicine.

The transfusions were aimed at providing the life-saving antibodies to the new patients.

The Associated Press Contributed to this report.

From The Epoch Times