Ebola outbreak: 10 African countries at risk; US extends travel ban to green card holders – 10 points | Today’s news
The African Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) warned on Saturday that apart from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Uganda, 10 African countries are at risk of Ebola.
Meanwhile, reports on Saturday claimed that the Trump administration had extended the travel ban to green card holders who had recently traveled to Ebola-affected areas.
The rare outbreak, already the third largest in history, has infected more than 600 people in the region so far.
Read also | The Ebola epidemic is now the third largest in history. Here’s what to know.
Here are the highlights of May 23:
1. Ebola is spreading faster than rescuers can track it in eastern Congo, where health workers managed to make contact with barely one in five identified contacts in a single day, Bloomberg reported.
Authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo reported 83 confirmed infections, 746 suspected cases and 1,603 identified contacts as of May 21, according to the health ministry.
However, health workers were only able to follow up on 342 contacts that day – about 21% of the total number of people being monitored, according to ministry figures released on Friday.
Read also | Ebola outpaces containment in eastern Congo as contact tracing falters
2. The Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, for which there is no approved vaccine or treatment, was declared an emergency of international concern by the World Health Organization on Sunday. ‘
The virus appears to have circulated undetected in Ituri province for months before authorities recognized what they were dealing with.
3. The outbreak has now reportedly spread to three provinces, including South Kivu, where officials this week confirmed a case near Bukavu, a large city near Congo’s border with Rwanda. Two cases were confirmed earlier this week in neighboring Uganda.
Read also | From Congolese mines and conflict zones, Ebola spreads silently
4. Three volunteers have died in the Democratic Republic of Congo after apparently contracting Ebola while on duty in March, the Red Cross said on Saturday. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said one died on 5 May and two more on 15 and 16 May.
The IFRC, according to Reuters, said the volunteers were from the Congo Red Cross in Ituri, the northeastern province that is the epicenter of the outbreak.
“Alikana Udumusi Augustin, Sezabo Katanabo and Ajiko Chandiru Viviane are believed to have contracted the Ebola virus on duty while carrying out mortuary management activities as part of a non-Ebola humanitarian mission on March 27,” the IFRC said in a statement.
“At the time of the intervention, the community was unaware of the Ebola virus disease outbreak and the outbreak had not yet been identified. They are among the first known victims of the epidemic.”
Read also | Ebola alert! Ministry of Health directs states, UTs to increase surveillance
5. Meanwhile, US health authorities have said they plan to temporarily bar permanent residents from entering the country if they have recently traveled to areas affected by Ebola.
A revision of quarantine rules allows the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to block entry to authorized permanent residents or green card holders if they have traveled to countries where the virus is spreading, Bloomberg reported.
The CDC expanded entrance screenings for Ebola to all residents and citizens at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Friday after also conducting them at Washington Dulles International Airport the day before, the organization announced Saturday.
Read also | World News Today Live Updates 23 May 2026: Ebola outbreak: 10 African countries at risk; US extends travel ban to green card holders – 10 points
6. In addition, sources told Politico that the Trump administration has temporarily halted deportation flights to the Democratic Republic of Congo. This includes general removal flights as well as the removal of migrants from third countries whose home countries refuse to accept them back from the US, the official said. How long the break will last is unclear.
Immigration agents could come into contact with the virus while traveling and the virus could spread closer to the U.S. because of Trump’s immigration tactics, unnamed officials told Politico.
The White House and State Department deferred comment to the Department of Homeland Security. A DHS spokesman said ICE “follows all applicable health and safety guidelines, including those outlined in the U.S. State Department’s travel advisories for the Democratic Republic of the Congo, when conducting removal operations,” Politico reported.
Read also | From Congolese mines and conflict zones, Ebola spreads silently
At least one woman is now in limbo after officials moved her to Kinshasa, DRC’s capital, and now say she won’t be brought back because of an Ebola travel ban — despite a court order for her return.
It is unclear what happens to refugees who have already been relocated against their will to countries affected or close to the outbreak, the report said. According to Gillian Brockell, a freelance journalist who tracks removals from third countries by the US, at least 37 people have been moved to those countries in recent months.
7. Health officials are now trying to track thousands of people who may have been exposed to the infections, which are spreading through remote mining areas and urban centers including Bunia and Goma, cities with populations approaching 700,000 and 860,000, respectively.
8. The risk inside Congo is now considered “very high,” according to Reuters, while neighboring countries face a “high” regional threat, the WHO said.
Uganda tightened border controls and suspended passenger transport links with Congo after reporting five confirmed cases of Ebola.
Read also | From Congolese mines and conflict zones, Ebola spreads silently
Rwanda also tightened control measures, saying on Friday that most foreign travelers who had recently visited Congo would be denied entry, while returning residents would face mandatory quarantine.
9. The latest figures from the ministry indicate that the confirmed transmission is spreading beyond the gold mining center of Mongbwalu, which was initially thought to be the epicenter.
While Mongbwalu remains the largest suspected cluster, confirmed infections are increasingly concentrated in surrounding health zones, including Rwampara and Bunia.
Nyankunde, home to a major referral hospital serving about 200,000 people, has also emerged as a growing cluster, with 11 confirmed cases and 340 contacts being traced, according to the ministry.
Read also | Ebola outpaces containment in eastern Congo as contact tracing falters
10. The African Union Health Agency on Saturday, according to AFP, warned ten African countries that, in addition to the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda, are at risk of being attacked by the Ebola virus.
“We have 10 countries at risk,” said Jean Kaseya, head of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), which lists Angola, Burundi, the Central African Republic, the Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Zambia.
