Nepal, May 25 -- On May 17, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), just two days after the Ministry of Health of the Democratic Republic of Congo confirmed an outbreak of Ebola virus disease. The very short interval between confirmation of the outbreak and the WHO's declaration of a PHEIC, compared with previous outbreaks such as Mpox, Zika and SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19), which took several weeks, indicates unexpected yet serious concern regarding its severity and the silent, rapid community spread of the infection.

Surprisingly, Bundibugyo virus, a less frequently reported and historically less pathogenic species of Ebola virus, was confirmed as the cause of the ongoing outbre...