UN News Today 19 May 2026 |

DRC Ebola outbreak: hundreds of suspected cases, no vaccine

As medical teams rush to stop transmission of the fast-spreading Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the UN health agency, WHO, said on Tuesday that the roll-out of any potential vaccines is months away. 

WHO representative in the country, Dr Anne Ancia, said that there have been more than 500 suspected cases of Ebola including 130 suspected deaths.

Uncertainty still surrounds how and where the outbreak started, Dr Ancia said:

“I don’t think that we have the patient zero for now. What we know for now is that on 5 May, there was, there is a person who died in Bunia. The body was brought back in Mongbwalu and the body was put in a coffin. And then the family decided that the coffin was not worth the person. And therefore what they did, they changed the coffin. And then there was the funeral and it’s from where it started.” 

There is a now a focus on potential candidate vaccines or treatments which could help fight the outbreak of Ebola Bundibugyo virus. 

Although a vaccine would help protect vulnerable populations, the key to containing transmission lies with communities to build trust and fight misinformation and ensure adherence to sanitary measures, especially around funerals.

“If we use coercive measures and the population does not agree, we will see suspected cases refusing to come to the hospitals and health facilities,” Dr Ancia insisted.

As Myanmar hunger crisis deepens, EU boosts aid via WFP

The vital work of staving off a hunger crisis in Myanmar has had a $6 million boost from the EU; but much more is needed to avert crop failure linked to war in the Middle East, UN aid teams said on Tuesday.

The alert from the World Food Programme (WFP) comes as families in the Southeast Asian nation struggle with much higher food and fuel prices caused in part by the bombing of Iran and the Strait of Hormuz shipping crunch.

According to WFP, fuel prices have tripled nationwide in Myanmar since late February, when the Iran war began.

The steepest price rises – of up to 38 per cent – have been recorded in areas where there’s fighting between the military junta and pro-democracy groups, including in Magway, Kayin and Rakhine.

Michael Dunmore is Country Director for WFP in Myanmar:

“Myanmar is the fifth hungriest country in the world. And now because of an external conflict, the Middle East war, we are seeing the situation deteriorating quickly. We’ve seen a dramatic increase in the cost of fuel, but equally we’re also seeing a lack of access particularly by farmers. And this is going to translate into reduced yields and further increases in prices, not only now, but particularly later in the year when the harvest comes in.”

The upcoming monsoon planting season is at risk because Myanmar farmers are cutting back on expensive fertilizer which is in short supply. 

WFP says that a 50 per cent drop in fertilizer use could reduce harvests by up to 15 per cent, which threatens to inflate prices further and cause even worse food insecurity into 2027.

The agency needs another $50 million over the next six months to continue feeding the most vulnerable in Myanmar.

World trade in doldrums as Middle East crisis remains unresolved

The war in the Middle East is having an increasingly negative impact on the global economy.

That’s according to the UN trade and development agency, UNCTAD, which reported on Tuesday that global growth is slowing “in real time”, with energy, trade, food security and finance all suffering.

After world GDP grew 2.9 per cent last year, the agency forecast that geopolitical instability will likely put pressure on economies everywhere and cause growth to slow down to 2.6 per cent in 2026.

UNCTAD noted that a large share of recent trade growth has come from products linked to the AI boom – including semiconductors and servers. 

In traditional industries and commodities, however, trade is expected to slow from 4.7 per cent in 2025 to between 1.5 and 2.5 per cent this year.

Developing economies are especially exposed and many “face rising bills for fuel, food and fertilizers while also dealing with currency pressure, tighter financing conditions” and weaker investment, the agency explained .

Daniel Johnson, UN News