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The United States has raised its Ebola emergency response to the highest activation level as health officials move to intensify coordination efforts amid a growing outbreak in Central Africa, while stressing that the risk to the US population remains low.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) announced a Level 1 activation, the agency’s most severe internal response designation, enabling rapid deployment of personnel, funding, and operational support to affected regions.
US officials said the decision reflects the seriousness of the outbreak in Africa rather than any increased domestic threat. CDC Ebola response lead Satish Pillai stated that the agency continues to assess the risk to the United States as low.
Health authorities report that the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has resulted in more than 1,100 confirmed infections and over 300 deaths within a little over one month.
The virus has also spread to neighboring Uganda, where officials have confirmed 20 cases and two deaths since mid-May. Ugandan health authorities say containment measures are helping to limit wider transmission, though surveillance efforts remain heightened, particularly in border regions.
The outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus, for which there is currently no approved vaccine or specific treatment.
As part of the international response, US authorities have begun shipping doses of an experimental treatment, MBP134, to both the DRC and Uganda. Additional supplies are being sent to the University of Oxford to support clinical trials evaluating its safety and efficacy against the strain.
The United States is also providing approximately 2,500 diagnostic test kits to assist in identifying Ebola strains in deceased patients and strengthening outbreak surveillance.
US health officials warned that, if not contained promptly, the outbreak could escalate to levels comparable to the 2014–2016 West Africa epidemic.
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