India steps up surveillance amid global Ebola outbreak

Key points

• New Delhi: India has enhanced nationwide disease surveillance and hospital preparedness following the World Health Organization’s (WHO) declaration of Ebola as a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC), an official familiar with the development said.
• In a high-level review meeting chaired by Union health secretary Punya Salila Srivastava, the ministry of health and family welfare confirmed that no case of Ebola virus disease (EVD) has been detected within the country so far.
• The government’s proactive response serves as a precaution to ensure readiness across all states and Union territories.
• According to official situational reports released by the WHO, the global emergency is centred in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda, driven by the rare Bundibugyo virus strain.
• As of May 2026, the WHO has documented over 500 suspected cases and 130 deaths in DRC, with at least 30 cases already laboratory confirmed.