Ebola is making international headlines again after the World Health Organization declared a global public health emergency, but the CDC said the risk to the U.S. is low.

Here are 10 things hospital leaders need to know about the current outbreak.

1. This is the third time the WHO has declared a global public health emergency due to an Ebola outbreak, Amesh Adalja, MD, senior scholar at the Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and spokesperson for the Infectious Disease Society of America, told Becker’s. There have been about 30 Ebola outbreaks since 1976, with the last one ending in November 2025, and this is the second outbreak of Bundibugyo virus. The last large Ebola outbreak was in West Africa between 2013 and 2014, and saw over 20,000 cases and 11,000 deaths.

“I don’t think this outbreak will come anywhere close to that scale,” Dr. Adalja said.

2. CDC leadership and physician-scientists activated the U.S.’ response to Ebola quickly, a silver lining amid an emerging outbreak, Trini Mathew, MD, medical director of antimicrobial stewardship program and infection prevention and control at Beaumont Hospital in Taylor, Mich., and professor of internal medicine at Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine in Auburn Hills, Mich., told Becker’s. Their swift mobilization of resources and communication is an advantage for preparedness.

3. This outbreak is located in a “very remote province” of Democratic Republic of Congo, Dr. Adalja said, unlike the 2013-2014 outbreak which was located in major West Africa cities and had a larger geographic scope. However, when this outbreak started or how long it has been ongoing is still unclear, Dr. Mathew said.

4. After the 2014 Ebola outbreak, the U.S. developed a system of 13 biocontainment units across the nation, designed to care for patients with high-consequence infectious diseases like Ebola and hantavirus. The National Emerging Special Pathogens Training and Education Center, which oversees the biocontainment system, has resources on infectious disease preparedness, including a guide for the current Ebola outbreak. The U.S. also established communication channels and response processes among hospitals and state and local health departments to ensure clear communication. The CDC maintains a list of on-call epidemiology contacts for every state who can guide providers on when and how to report a potential case.

5. Hospital leaders should continue to monitor the situation, and should move to actively prepare once alerted by the CDC or a health department. This could happen if a large number of Americans travel to the outbreak zone to provide aid and then return. During the 2014 outbreak, a large relief effort resulted in a few Ebola cases among Americans who returned to the U.S., Dr. Adalja said.

6. Although the risk to the U.S. remains low, the most important thing hospitals can do right now is reinforce the emergency preparedness infrastructure, Dr. Adalja said. Hospital executives should clearly communicate their robust emergency planning procedures and what protocols are in place to staff. Building strong partnerships with state and local health departments, regional coalitions with other facilities and emergency managers within their hospitals should also be a priority.

“All of that is genuinely reassuring to clinical staff and to the communities these hospitals serve,” Dr. Adalja said. “The fact that Ebola is in the headlines is actually a good reason to surface this issue, because the disconnect between emergency management and executive leadership is a chronic deficiency in hospitals.”

7. When evaluating preparedness, hospital leaders should consider people, places and things. For people, this means how to support staff, patients and families through clinical care, managing logistics and the healthcare system’s resilience, Dr. Mathew said. Places means determining where care will be provided and how to ensure safety for patients and responders. And things cover personal protective equipment, testing requirements and waste management — all of which are critical for high-consequence pathogens like Ebola.

“The most important thing hospital leaders can do is be transparent — acknowledging what is known, what is not known, and being clear that physicians and scientists are actively guiding recommendations to minimize risk to the public,” Dr. Mathew said. “Be open, be available, and use your media channels to communicate directly with the patients and communities you serve.”

8. There are six strains of Ebola and only the Zaire strain has approved vaccines and monoclonal antibodies, Dr. Adalja said. Although vaccines are a helpful tool in outbreaks, “they have not historically been the decisive factor in stopping an outbreak,” he said. Roughly two dozen Ebola outbreaks have been contained before any vaccine was created. The standard protocols for outbreak treatment and containment are IV fluids, electrolyte replacement, Ebola treatment units, personal protective equipment and safe burial practices.

9. Ebola is not transmitted before a person becomes symptomatic, Dr. Mathew said. This makes transmission monitoring and contamination more manageable than airborne pathogens.

10. For infectious disease experts, “Ebola is not the only concern on our radar,” Dr. Mathew said. “Antimicrobial resistance and vaccine-preventable diseases represent what I would call hidden tsunamis — threats that are actually more likely to affect Americans in the near term. And with large gatherings coming up this summer amid the FIFA World Cup, Fan Fest, the 250th anniversary of the United States, [infectious disease experts] are actively monitoring, tracking and working to keep people safe across all of those settings.”

11. As of May 18, one American has tested positive for Ebola and six others with known exposures are being transported to a facility in Germany for treatment and monitoring. The CDC also implemented new travel restrictions on visitors from Uganda, Congo or South Sudan due to the Ebola outbreak. As of May 17, there have been 10 confirmed cases, 336 suspected cases and 88 deaths in the Congo tied to Ebola, according to the CDC.

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