CANADA PERSPECTIVE

Ottawa, May 18, 2026. The Globe and Mail has published several articles on the early stages of the Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, which has already spread to Uganda. The Canadian coverage emphasizes two key points: the true scale of the crisis and the systemic failures that allowed it to be detected late.

The World Health Organization has triggered its emergency procedure exceptionally, without waiting for its usual expert committee. The death toll stands at over 118 in the provinces of Ituri and North Kivu, with two additional deaths in Uganda. More than 300 suspected cases have been reported. The Toronto-based newspaper notes that the WHO itself acknowledges that the outbreak is "potentially much larger" than official figures.

The strain responsible is the Bundibugyo variant, which has only appeared three times since its discovery in Uganda between 2007 and 2008, when 37 people died. This variant has no approved treatment or licensed vaccine, unlike the Zaïre strain, for which therapeutic tools exist. The estimated mortality rate remains comparable to other strains, between 30% and 50%.

The North American dimension of the crisis is highlighted from May 18: an American doctor from the organization Serge, stationed at Bunia hospital in Ituri, has tested positive after developing symptoms over the weekend. Seven Americans, including the infected doctor, have been transferred to Germany for surveillance. The incident reminds Canadian readers that Anglo-Saxon humanitarian workers are directly exposed.

The Globe's coverage focuses on the causes of the delay in detection. Initial samples were tested for the Zaïre strain, which is more common; negative results lost several crucial weeks. "Because the initial tests were looking for the wrong variant, we got false negatives and lost weeks of response," said Matthew Kavanagh, director of the Georgetown University Center for Global Health Policy and Politics. The expert linked the delay to US decisions: aid cuts and the US withdrawal from the WHO have weakened precisely the surveillance systems designed to detect these viruses early.

The newspaper also notes that Rwanda has temporarily closed its official border posts, a measure that the WHO advises against, as it pushes travelers towards unsupervised crossings. The city of Goma, on the Rwandan border and under the control of the M23 armed group supported by Kigali, already has a confirmed case, adding a geopolitical dimension to the health crisis.