Congo Ebola: WHO Chief Appeals for Early Treatment, Safe Burials

The head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, is urging communities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to seek early Ebola treatment and adopt safe burial practices. This marks the country’s 17th Ebola outbreak and one of the largest in 50 years. Certain local traditions—such as touching the bodies of those who died from the virus—risk spreading the disease further. Tedros acknowledged the pain of loss but stressed that protecting one another, even in grief, is essential to breaking the cycle of infection. “While we grieve for those we have lost, we must do everything we can so that we do not lose another and get into a cycle of grief,” he said. “Protecting each other, even in grief, is one of the hardest and most important things we can do.