Scientists report cases of Ebola are rising across Africa

Added: 2026-05-28

[00:00:00]and rapidly spreading Ebola outbreak in Africa. The number of reported cases is now above 1,000 in the Congo.

[00:00:06]Authorities saying 10 other countries are now considered high-risk. And as LeMar Hassan reports, health workers are facing several challenges trying to contain this rare strain of the virus.

[00:00:20]It is a race against time to try to stop the deadly Ebola virus from spreading.

[00:00:25]The outbreak in Central Africa rising rapidly. The Democratic Republic of Congo now has more than 900 reported cases, according to local authorities.

[00:00:35]And 10 countries also considered at high-risk for an outbreak. Health officials sounding the alarm. It will be a big mistake to underestimate, especially with the with this strain. In the middle of those 10 countries, the Democratic Republic of Congo, where there are more than 150 deaths reported to be Ebola related. In the Congo city of Bunia, where the outbreak originated, health officials say there are several challenges slowing down efforts of trying to contain this rare strain of Ebola. People traveling from region to region, and also the ongoing violence. The security in part of Ituri remains really fragile.

[00:01:17]And this is because of the presence of armed groups and recurring intercommunal tensions. Ebola is a virus that can cause a person to bleed to death, and this strain has no vaccine or specific treatment. Health officials in the DRC have banned gatherings of more than 50 people. But in Bunia, locals attending Sunday mass, like Ronald Safari, says he and other church-goers are taking precautions.

[00:01:46]Just because this disease exists, he says, doesn't mean they can close the church. And as the US inches closer to the start of the FIFA World Cup, multiple countries now with travel restrictions in place, including the United States. The US saying US citizens who have been to the DRC, Uganda, or South Sudan must now head to airports in Virginia and Atlanta for health screenings. A third airport in Houston added to that list on Tuesday. Foreign visitors and US green card holders who have traveled through or coming from those areas in the last 21 days have been blocked from entering the country.

[00:02:22]And tonight an update on one of the American missionaries evacuated from the Congo. Dr. Peter Larochelle saying that the challenges are overwhelming, but that he has remained free of infection so far. US officials say they are aggressively trying to contain the largest Ebola outbreak in 10 years and stop it from coming into America. A disaster assistance response team is now on the ground in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda. Lama Hassan, NBC News, London.