The Next Pandemic Will Come From a Conflict Zone

by | May 22, 2026 | Conflict

The latest Ebola outbreak underscores a central flaw with the global preparedness model.

Article initially published by Foreign Policy on May 22, 2026 and written by Annie Sparrow.

As delegates met this week in Geneva to debate pandemic preparedness at the World Health Assembly, an Ebola crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda was once again testing the world’s outbreak response architecture.

On May 15, Congo formally declared a new Ebola epidemic in Ituri province, in the country’s east, after laboratory confirmation of multiple cases and dozens of suspected deaths. Spread into Uganda was confirmed soon afterward. Two days later, the director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern without first convening an emergency committee—an unprecedented move.

Read the full article on foreignpolicy.com