Ebola surge has reached Brazil, experts fear as outbreak kills 250 in central Africa and aid struggles to keep up

Published: 20:49, 31 May 2026 | Updated: 20:49, 31 May 2026 The Ebola outbreak that has killed around 250 in central Africa is spreading faster than medical aid can be delivered – and experts fear it has reached Brazil. A rare type of the fatal disease is ravaging the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), with more than 1,000 cases reported so far. The charity Doctors Without Borders warned: 'Never before has an Ebola outbreak recorded so many cases so soon after its declaration.' Dr Alan Gonzalez, its deputy director of operations, said: 'Nobody knows the true scale and severity of this outbreak.' He added that his teams were 'witnessing a response that has not yet caught up to the rapid spread of the epidemic'. Meanwhile, Brazilian health authorities are investigating two suspected cases of Ebola. A 37-year-old man from the DRC has been isolated after showing 'symptoms meeting the definition of a suspected case' of Ebola, Sao Paulo state government said. Rio de Janeiro state health officials have introduced emergency measures after a man from Uganda exhibited 'viral symptoms'. Ebola is caught from contact with the body fluids of an infected person or wild animal. Symptoms include nausea, rashes and bleeding from the ears, eyes, nose and mouth. The current strain is known as Bundibugyo virus, for which there is no vaccine. Despite fears that it may spread to other nations, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has told countries not to close their borders as this encourages travellers from disease hotspots to lie when crossing checkpoints. However, America has banned entry to non-US citizens from DRC, Uganda and South Sudan, and Rwanda and Uganda have shut their borders. WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said such actions 'discourage the transparency that saves lives'. Red Cross workers outside the house of an unidentified man who died of Ebola in Democratic Republic of the Congo No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.