'It Doesn’t Spread Like Covid': 7 Biggest Ebola Myths Busted As WHO Warns About 'Scale & Speed' Of Outbreak

Key points

• 'It Doesn’t Spread Like Covid': 7 Biggest Ebola Myths Busted As WHO Warns About 'Scale & Speed' Of Outbreak Written By, Last Updated: May 19, 2026, 16:49 IST As global anxiety mounts around Ebola, public panic is frequently being fuelled by an old enemy: medical misinformation The most pervasive fear is that you can contract Ebola simply by breathing the same air as an infected person.
• File image/AP The World Health Organisation (WHO) has officially declared the accelerating Ebola outbreak in Central Africa a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.
• Driven by the rare Bundibugyo strain, the virus has quickly breached remote borders, with suspected infections surging past 500 and confirmed cases emerging in major urban centres like Kinshasa and Kampala.
• WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has explicitly warned of the worrying “scale and speed" of this expansion.
• As global anxiety mounts, public panic is frequently being fuelled by an...