Dr. Alok Patel breaks down Ebola concerns and new weight loss drug

Added: 2026-05-25

[00:00:00]Now for our weekly medical rundown [music] with ABC News medical contributor and pediatrician at Stanford Children's Health, Dr. Alok Patel. He's here with more on that Ebola outbreak in Central Africa. Dr. Patel, you know, this is something that we've been talking about almost daily since it started. Health officials are closely watching that outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and also some of the neighboring countries. First, what is the latest there?

[00:00:25]Hey Alex, really scary headlines. As of right now, there's at least 750 or so suspected cases, about 177 deaths and counting. And there's a lot of contact tracing happening right now. And a lot of it is even though there have been previous Ebola outbreaks, this specific strain, the Bundibugyo strain, there is no approved vaccine or treatment. So getting those cases early and isolating people is of utmost importance. And again, this is in an area in the DRC that's been mired by conflict with thousands of displaced people. So a lot of local effort and international coordination is needed. But as a reminder, the risk to the US population continues to be low.