“No further cases have been reported since the 25th of May,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO’s director-general, told a press briefing in Geneva.

“We are therefore very pleased to say that WHO considers the outbreak of hantavirus over.”

The total number of cases from the outbreak remains 13, including 12 confirmed cases and one probable case. Three people died.

The #hantavirus outbreak is over.

However, @WHO will continue working with governments and partners to advance our understanding of the cause of this outbreak and of hantavirus more generally.

My thanks to all countries that supported the response, in line with the… pic.twitter.com/FMGHA7QOe5

— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) July 2, 2026

More than 650 contacts were identified and followed up by health authorities in 33 countries and territories.

Tedros thanked the countries that supported the response “in line with the International Health Regulations.” He named Argentina, Cabo Verde, Chile, the Netherlands, South Africa, the United Kingdom and Spain.

He singled out Spain for special thanks. “Muchas gracias,” he said, praising the country’s “incredible solidarity” in supporting the safe disembarkation and repatriation of passengers and crew in Tenerife.

The Dutch-flagged ship set off April 1 from Ushuaia, Argentina. It took in remote islands in the South Atlantic Ocean, including Tristan da Cunha, before heading north to Tenerife in Spain’s Canary Islands, where the remaining passengers were safely disembarked and repatriated. The ship later docked in Rotterdam. On May 30, it was cleared to put to sea again after cleaning and disinfection.

“Although the outbreak is over, WHO will continue working with governments and partners to advance our understanding of this outbreak and of hantavirus more generally,” Tedros said.

“We are also coordinating a study involving 21 countries to understand how the disease develops, which will support the development of diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines for future outbreaks.”

Tedros also gave updates on other health emergencies. He said the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo continues to expand, and that Uganda has confirmed a case of Marburg virus disease.

“The outbreaks of hantavirus, Ebola and Marburg all show why there is no alternative to international cooperation in the face of international threats,” he said. “No country alone can fight.”

The latest figures represent an increase of 73 confirmed cases in 24 hours, the report said. Health officials also reported 192 recoveries and 609 patients currently in care.

The outbreak remains centered in Ituri province, where the number of affected health zones has risen to 24. The Lolwa health zone has been newly identified as affected. Authorities are also monitoring 11 health zones in North Kivu and one health zone, Miti-Murhesa, in South Kivu.

The outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo species of Ebola virus, according to the World Health Organization. WHO says there is currently no approved vaccine or specific treatment for this species, although candidate vaccines and treatments are being evaluated.

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said on July 1 that the outbreak was affecting the DRC and Uganda. Its update, based on DRC data from June 29, listed 1,333 confirmed cases and 399 deaths, showing that official public updates may lag behind newer national situation reports.

Also Read: Ebola Outbreak Could Cost Africa Up to $3.6bn, UN Warns

Response activities include contact tracing, patient care, delivery of medical supplies, logistical support and community risk communication. Contact tracing coverage was reported at 82.5%.

The CDC says the outbreak was declared on May 15, 2026, after laboratory confirmation of Bundibugyo virus disease in northeastern DRC and Uganda’s capital, Kampala. The CDC also says this is the 17th Ebola outbreak recorded in the DRC.

It is caused by Bundibugyo – a rarer Ebola species with no licensed vaccine or approved treatment.

No licensed vaccine for Bundibugyo Ebola

All three of the affected provinces lie in DR Congo’s east. Ituri is by far the worst hit, with 1,165 confirmed cases spread across 23 health zones; North Kivu has reported 106 cases across 11 health zones, while South Kivu has recorded three cases in a single health zone.

In one daily update alone, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control,citing DRC health authorities, said the latest DRC report included 47 new confirmed cases and 12 new deaths. A previously unaffected health zone – Mandima in Ituri – was added to the outbreak map on 27 June.

DR Congo declared the outbreak on 15 May, after its national reference laboratory confirmed Bundibugyo virus in samples from suspected cases. By 22 June, confirmed cases had passed 1,000 – placing this outbreak third in the historical record, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. WHO declared the outbreak a PHEIC on May 17, two days after DRC and Uganda declared outbreaks.

Cases beyond DR Congo

Uganda had recorded 20 cumulative confirmed cases as of 30 June, its health ministry said – 15 brought in from DR Congo and five from local transmission, with two deaths. All 821 contacts have completed their 21-day checks.

France has also confirmed a case – a doctor who returned from DR Congo and a US citizen was evacuated to Germany for treatment in May. The CDC rates the risk to Americans as very low and says no cases have been confirmed in the country.

The disease passes from person to person through direct contact with blood, secretions or organs of someone who is infected, or through contaminated surfaces. Symptoms can appear anywhere from two to 21 days after exposure.

Also Read: Ebola Outbreak Could Cost Africa Up to $3.6bn, UN Warns

Race for a vaccine

Scientists are racing to develop vaccines and test medical countermeasures. CEPI said it is backing three vaccine candidates – from IAVI, Moderna and the University of Oxford working with the Serum Institute of India – covering clinical trial preparation, development and manufacturing.

In Bunia, DR Congo’s National Institute of Public Health has opened a clinical trial to test an antiviral against the disease, with the University of Oxford, the WHO and the National Institute for Biomedical Research all involved.

DRC presidency says the response plan is budgeted at $319 million, with $20 million released urgently. A separate six-month continental plan from the WHO and Africa CDC puts the wider price tag at $518m – covering surveillance, laboratory testing, clinical care and logistics.

“Ebola moves fast. Africa must move faster,” said Africa CDC director-general Jean Kaseya.

WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said containing the outbreak depended on “political commitment, sustained financing” and community trust.

The outbreak has infected 1,307 people and killed 377 in DR Congo since it was declared on 15 May, according to government figures cited by the UN Development Programme (UNDP).

A smaller number of cases has been confirmed in neighbouring Uganda. Health experts have warned the virus could also spread to South Sudan.

“If we have the resources and we step up, we can contain this outbreak and prevent further losses,” said Damien Mama, the UNDP’s resident representative in DR Congo.

“If we do not, this health emergency risks becoming a much deeper and prolonged development crisis across the region and potentially the continent.”

The economic damage will depend on how quickly the outbreak is brought under control, the UNDP said.

In its best-case scenario, where the epidemic stays limited to DR Congo and Uganda, the cost to Congo’s GDP would be about $1bn.

In its worst-case scenario, the virus spreads to countries including Rwanda and Angola, while higher fuel prices linked to the Iran crisis add further pressure to African economies. That combination could cut continental GDP by $3.6bn.

No vaccine for this strain

The outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo species of the virus. Unlike the more familiar Zaire strain, Bundibugyo has no licensed vaccine or specific treatment, though the World Health Organization (WHO) says work is under way to test new candidates.

The disease spreads from one person to another by contact with infected bodily fluids such as blood or vomit, or with contaminated materials and bodies during burial.

The WHO declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern on 17 May, two days after DR Congo and Uganda confirmed Bundibugyo virus disease in their territories.

Transmission in DR Congo is concentrated in Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu – provinces where insecurity, poor access to health facilities and weak isolation systems are complicating the response.

By 28 June, Uganda had reported 20 confirmed cases and two deaths. Most were linked to travel from DR Congo, though five were associated with local transmission.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the outbreak had become the third-largest Ebola outbreak on record by 22 June.

Conflict hampers response

The worst-affected areas of eastern DR Congo are already gripped by conflict and mass displacement.

Africa CDC chief Jean Kaseya said last week that almost 300 people who had tested positive for Ebola were unaccounted for, raising fears of wider community transmission in areas where armed groups operate.

Treatment centres are under severe strain, with bed occupancy reaching 95%, according to humanitarian agencies. Africa CDC and the WHO estimate $518m in health spending is needed to tackle the outbreak – a figure that rises to about $1.4bn once wider humanitarian needs are included.

DR Congo’s government has announced a $319m response plan

“Ebola is neither a rumour nor a source of shame,” President Felix Tshisekedi said in a televised address urging people to come forward with suspected cases rather than spread rumours.

But the response has turned politically sensitive. Public gatherings have been banned in several provinces – some of them nowhere near a confirmed case.

Opposition figures aren’t buying the official explanation. They say the bans are really aimed at planned protests against proposed changes to the constitution.

Fears of regional spread

Geography is working against the response. Ituri province borders both Uganda and South Sudan, and sits astride trade, mining and displacement routes that make tracking the virus difficult.

DR Congo’s risk level is “very high,” according to the WHO; Uganda’s is “high,” reflecting confirmed cross-border spread and the epidemiological links that run along the eastern DR Congo-western Uganda corridor. Even countries that merely share a land border with the two are at elevated risk, the agency says, given how freely people, goods and uneven health systems move between them.

By mid-September the outbreak could reach thousands of cases if transmission isn’t brought under control, according to a modelling study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases – which also flagged a significant risk of the virus reaching South Sudan.

Travel and trade restrictions on DR Congo and Uganda are not the answer, the WHO has advised; such measures, it argues, tend to discourage transparency and disrupt the response rather than help it.

Visiting Bunia, the centre of the response in eastern DR Congo, WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus pointed to something less tangible: community trust. Without it, he said, and without safe burials, slowing the virus becomes far harder.

The patient, a physician who had returned from a humanitarian mission in one of the Ebola-affected areas of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), was immediately isolated and admitted to a specialized healthcare facility. The patient is reported to be in stable condition.

All precautionary measures were taken upon the patient’s arrival in France, including transfer to a hospital under secure medical conditions to prevent any risk of transmission.

An epidemiological investigation is underway to identify people who may have been in contact with the patient. Identified contacts will be monitored for 21 days following their last known exposure.

French health officials say the risk to the general European population remains very low.

The case is linked to the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the DRC, which was declared on May 15. The outbreak is caused by Bundibugyo virus, one of the Orthoebolavirus species. There is currently no approved vaccine or specific treatment for Bundibugyo virus disease.

#Communiqué | Ebola : identification d’un 1er cas chez un médecin humanitaire de retour de mission en République démocratique du Congo (RDC)

Le ministère de la Santé, des Familles, de l’Autonomie et des Personnes handicapées confirme ce jour l’identification d’un premier cas… pic.twitter.com/OL3ILA0MCp

— Ministère de la Santé (@Sante_Gouv) June 24, 2026

According to the Congolese Ministry of Health, 1,094 confirmed cases and 277 deaths have been reported in the outbreak.

The outbreak, centered in eastern DRC, has affected the provinces of Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu. The CDC says the outbreak was first identified after a hospital in Bunia Health Zone reported a cluster of severe illnesses among healthcare workers.

Ebola disease is spread through direct contact with the blood or body fluids of a person who is sick with or has died from the disease, or through objects contaminated with infected body fluids.

The incubation period ranges from 2 to 21 days. Early symptoms include fever, fatigue, muscle pain, headache, and sore throat, which can progress to vomiting, diarrhea, rash and, in some cases, bleeding.

People are not considered infectious before symptoms begin.

PTI, as carried by ThePrint, said laboratory examination of samples from the affected areas confirmed the H5N1 strain of avian influenza. The Times of India reported the same strain confirmation and the same list of affected local bodies.

Both reports said rapid response teams will begin culling operations in the affected areas as part of containment. Neither of the accessible reports gave a final count for the number of birds to be culled in Kozhikode.

Officials quoted in both reports said there had been no reported transmission to humans so far, while urging the public to remain vigilant and follow safety guidance. That claim is presented here as official attribution, not as an independently verified public health assessment.

Kerala authorities will cull 5,961 domestic birds in Muhamma in Alappuzha district after avian influenza was confirmed there, according to a PTI report. The report said the Animal Husbandry Department had deployed rapid response teams for culling operations within a 1-km radius of the epicenter.

A separate The Hindu report, citing officials and agency inputs, said the outbreak was confirmed in Ward 7 of Muhamma grama panchayat and that the containment steps were being carried out under the Government of India’s 2021 action plan for avian influenza. It said an emergency meeting chaired by District Collector Inbasekar Kalimuthu approved the cull.

The district administration has urged residents to report unusual bird deaths to veterinary hospitals and to follow protective measures when handling dead birds, according to the same report.
Also read: Kerala To Cull 5,961 Birds in Alappuzha After Bird Flu Confirmation

UKHSA’s formal statistical release classifies the 12 unconfirmed cases as probable. Nine of the 15 confirmed linked cases were confirmed meningococcal group B, or MenB, in the statistical release.

The public health response is centered on preventive antibiotics for people most likely to have had meaningful exposure. UKHSA said the drugs are being offered to University of Kent students, to people who visited Club Chemistry in Canterbury on March 5, 6 and 7, and to close contacts of confirmed or suspected cases. The agency said general practitioners across England can prescribe the treatment to people who were told to seek it and have since left Kent. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has urged anyone who attended Club Chemistry on those dates to come forward to receive antibiotics.

UKHSA also said a targeted MenB vaccination program has started for students and staff who live in or work in halls at the University of Kent’s Canterbury campus, covering about 5,000 students initially. To date, 600 MenB vaccines have been administered at the Canterbury campus after hundreds of students joined a queue outside the campus sports centre, and 6,500 antibiotics have also been given out as a precaution. The agency said the program could be expanded if risk assessments show other groups need it.

The agency said confirmed cases have been identified in students at four schools in Kent and in one student at a higher education institution in London who is directly linked to the Kent outbreak. UKHSA also said it is coordinating a national response, but stressed that this does not mean a national National Health Service (NHS) incident has been declared.

Kent County Council’s director of public health, Dr. Anjan Ghosh, told BBC Radio 4 that officials are not yet in a position to say definitively that the outbreak has been contained, noting they are still working to rule out secondary transmission.

For the wider public, UKHSA said the risk remains low and that transmission typically requires close and prolonged contact, such as living in the same household or intimate contact. Experts note the bacteria spread through respiratory droplets and saliva, particularly in settings with intense social mixing such as shared accommodation or crowded indoor venues. The agency has stressed that antibiotics remain the main measure for controlling the outbreak, while the MenB vaccine is meant to reduce the risk of severe illness in people who receive it. It does not protect against all strains of meningococcal disease, UKHSA said, and it does not stop the bacteria from being carried and spread in the community. The agency’s blog also notes that the MenACWY vaccine — which targets four other meningococcal strains and is routinely offered to teenagers — does not protect against MenB.

UKHSA’s statistical release says daily outbreak counts are verified at set times and may move up or down as cases are confirmed, reclassified or discarded. The agency said it will continue updating the figures as the Kent investigation remains ongoing.

The strikes, carried out overnight into Sunday, March 8, hit multiple oil storage facilities and a petroleum transfer centre in Tehran and nearby Alborz. Fars news agency reported that four tanker drivers were killed in the attack on the transfer centre. Israel said the facilities were used for military infrastructure.

By Sunday morning, thick smoke had spread across Tehran. A video posted on X appeared to show the capital at sunrise under a dense smoke plume, visually matching other reports that the sky had darkened over the city. CNN correspondent Frederik Pleitgen, posting from Tehran, described oil rain falling across the city after the strikes.

It is raining oil in Tehran this morning after major airstrikes on oil facilities in the South and West of the Iranian capital. @CNN @cnni pic.twitter.com/2FBD9EnO9p

— Frederik Pleitgen (@fpleitgenCNN) March 8, 2026

Residents quoted by Time described dark, oily rain on streets, cars and rooftops, and said the air was difficult to breathe. One resident said the rain had turned surfaces black even miles from the storage sites.

Iran’s Red Crescent Society warned that chemicals released by the explosions included hydrocarbon compounds, sulfur and nitrogen oxides, and said any resulting rainfall could be “extremely dangerous and highly acidic.” Iranian environmental authorities and relief officials urged residents to remain indoors.

On Tuesday, March 10, The Guardian reported that WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said damage to petroleum facilities in Iran risked contaminating “food, water and air,” with particular danger for children, older people and people with pre-existing medical conditions. WHO had already warned in a March 5 briefing that the wider conflict was putting health systems and lives at risk across the region.

WHO’s March 5 briefing said almost 1,000 deaths had been reported in Iran at that point and that the agency had verified 13 attacks on health care in Iran and one in Lebanon. A WHO Eastern Mediterranean regional statement, cited in secondary reporting, said Iranian national authorities were reporting more than 925 deaths, more than 6,100 injuries and 14 attacks on health care in Iran since February 28.

What is confirmed and what is not

What remains less clear is the precise nature of the rainfall itself. Public reporting supports that dark, soot-filled or oil-streaked rain fell over parts of Tehran, but no public laboratory analysis has confirmed its composition. That makes terms such as “acid rain” and “toxic rain” safest when attributed to Iranian relief officials or residents, not stated as established fact.

Experts quoted by The Guardian said the phenomenon was consistent with soot, smoke, oil particles, sulfur compounds and other material released by burning petroleum infrastructure mixing with an incoming weather system. Dr Akshay Deoras of the University of Reading said those conditions could produce dark rainfall, while Prof Andrea Sella of University College London said the immediate risks would include inhalation and skin exposure to harmful particles and chemicals.

Residents interviewed by Time spoke of headaches, sore skin, throat irritation and breathing problems after short periods outdoors. Those accounts are significant, but they remain anecdotal. No official count of exposure-related hospital visits has been published, nor has a clinical assessment of the rainfall’s effects.

The reporting available draws heavily on resident accounts, Iranian official warnings and secondary media reports, rather than laboratory data or direct WHO technical findings on the rainfall itself. That is a meaningful limitation given the scale of the health claims being made.

Iran’s deputy health minister, Ali Jafarian told Al Jazeera that soil and water supplies around Tehran were beginning to be contaminated by fallout from the explosions. That claim has not been independently verified.

The state says the pressure has intensified in 2026. Officials said 7.2 million birds have been affected since the start of this year, and that about half of the state’s losses since 2022 have occurred since January 2026.

“I know farmers are worried given the recent increase in cases,” Governor Josh Shapiro said in a statement released by his office.

The Shapiro administration said its response team is now working in 21 locations statewide during the current surge, as it mobilises more personnel and expands testing.

Pennsylvania’s plan relies on a mix of state staff, federal support, and university experts, according to the administration’s update from Harrisburg.

Officials said 42 U.S. Department of Agriculture employees would be on the ground supporting 55 Commonwealth veterinarians and employees, four Penn State Extension experts, and three members of the Pennsylvania National Guard Civil Support Team. The administration also said it is deploying up to six additional Commonwealth employees to support the response.

The administration framed the effort as aimed at protecting Pennsylvania’s poultry sector, which it described as a $7.1 billion industry.

State officials described bird flu as highly infectious and generally fatal to domestic birds, and said speed is central to limiting spread.

A key part of the response is surveillance and testing through the Pennsylvania Animal Diagnostic Laboratory System (PADLS).

The administration said PADLS processed 672,342 bird flu tests between July 1, 2024, and June 30, 2025. That total included more than 200,000 poultry samples and 29,000 cattle samples.

Since January 2026, PADLS has performed 8,000 tests in the last six weeks and tested 80,000 birds in less than two months, the administration said.

When a case is detected, state officials said animal health teams deploy alongside the USDA and local emergency management. They work to quarantine affected sites, conduct testing, and oversee cleaning and disinfection protocols.

NBC10 Philadelphia reported that Shapiro and Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding are scheduled to visit the Lancaster County Rapid Response Center on Feb. 24 for a roundtable with poultry producers and industry leaders. The discussion is expected to be streamed.

Pennsylvania officials also pointed to funding meant to help farms recover and strengthen defences against future outbreaks.

The administration said Pennsylvania is the only state with a dedicated HPAI Recovery Fund and that $75 million has been committed to it since 2022. Officials said $59.45 million is currently in reserve.

They said 300 poultry businesses have received $15.9 million in grants to offset losses and strengthen biosecurity, including disease-prevention improvements on 150 farms.

Separately, the state said Shapiro secured $6 million in the 2024- 25 budget to establish a fourth diagnostic laboratory at Penn State Beaver, aimed at increasing surge capacity and improving statewide surveillance.

The administration said the governor is seeking $11 million for agricultural preparedness and response in his proposed 2026- 27 budget.

Bird flu has primarily been an animal health and agricultural crisis. Still, it has also drawn attention from public health agencies due to infections reported among people who have had close contact with animals.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says A(H5) bird flu is widespread in wild birds worldwide and continues to cause outbreaks in poultry and U.S. dairy cows, with sporadic human cases in U.S. dairy and poultry workers.

“The current public health risk remains low,” the CDC says, while monitoring continues for people with animal exposures.

In Pennsylvania, the Department of Agriculture said it continues to monitor and respond to bird flu in backyard and commercial flocks. The department also said there are currently no reported cases in Pennsylvania’s dairy cattle.

It encouraged dairies to enrol in a voluntary health monitoring programme described on its avian influenza information page.

The administration urged poultry producers to reinforce biosecurity steps during the seasonal migration period, when wild birds can increase the risk of exposure.

Those steps include limiting farm access, using protective clothing and footwear, disinfecting equipment and vehicles, preventing contact with wild birds, and monitoring flock health for unexplained illness or deaths.

The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture also lists reporting lines for suspected illness in poultry and wild birds, as the state continues to track the outbreak and expand its response.