The Department of Health (DOH) announced on Sunday, May 17, that it is actively coordinating with the World Health Organization (WHO) following the declaration of a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) due to the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus affecting parts of Africa.
In an official statement, the DOH assured the public that the Philippines remains free of the Bundibugyo virus and that national health authorities are on high alert amid heightened global monitoring.
“We have been notified through the International Health Regulations (IHR) channels, and are in active coordination with the WHO,” said Health Undersecretary and spokesperson Albert Domingo.
The health department clarified that while Ebola outbreaks have historically been concentrated in Western and Central Africa, previous Ebola-related incidents documented in the Philippines in 1989, 1996, and 2008 involved the Reston virus strain. Unlike the Bundibugyo strain, the Reston variant does not cause illness in humans.
The DOH also recalled the 2014 West Africa Ebola epidemic—the largest in history—which saw nearly 29,000 cases and a 40% fatality rate linked to the Zaire strain. During that global crisis, Filipino United Nations peacekeepers returning from Liberia successfully underwent a strict 21-day quarantine managed by the DOH Bureau of Quarantine.
“The virus did not spread and no one died of it in the Philippines,” the DOH noted.
The WHO officially declared the Bundibugyo outbreak a PHEIC over the weekend. However, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus clarified that the situation does not yet meet the criteria for a “pandemic emergency” under current International Health Regulations.
Tedros warned that containment efforts in Africa are currently being hindered by “ongoing insecurity, humanitarian crisis, high population mobility, the urban or semi-urban nature of the current hotspot and the large network of informal healthcare facilities.” He emphasized the urgent need for international cooperation to scale up surveillance and strengthen control measures.
According to Domingo, WHO guidance for countries like the Philippines—which share no land borders with affected nations and have zero recorded Bundibugyo cases—focuses primarily on public awareness and maintaining robust preventative systems.
“The DOH is always ready and on alert,” Domingo said.