WHO massively scales back number of suspected Ebola cases in Congo

The United Nations' World Health Organization significantly scaled back on Tuesday the number of suspected Ebola cases in central Africa , lowering it to 116 from more than 900, with 330 total cases confirmed. The WHO said that as of May 31, there were 116 suspected cases of the deadly virus registered in Democratic Republic of Congo — a massive reduction from the 906 that had been on the books late last week. In total, there were 321 cases confirmed in the DRC, including 48 people who had died, while neighboring Uganda had nine confirmed cases, including one death. While some suspected cases have been confirmed, many more "have been cleared out" after being shown to be other diseases or an unlinked fever, WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier told reporters Tuesday at the agency's headquarters in Geneva. While the less daunting caseload may help, doctors working on the front lines of the outbreak say they likely should have learned about it much earlier, and they stress that there are still many challenges to reigning it in. Health workers get dressed in personal protective equipment (PPE) at the Evangelical Medical Center, one of the facilities at the forefront of the response to the Ebola outbreak, in Bunia, Ituri province, Democratic Republic of Congo, May 31, 2026. Gradel Muyisa Mumbere/REUTERS The International Rescue Committee charity told CBS News the current outbreak may have been spreading, undetected, as early as January. Dr. …