Ontario patient tests negative for Ebola, while new border screening measures are in place amid Congo outbreak

Canada's Chief Public Health Officer, Dr. Joss Reimer, answers a reporters question as she provides an updates about the Andes Hantavirus and actions taken by the Government of Canada during a press conference at the National Press Theatre in Ottawa on Thursday, May 14, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Canada’s top doctor says a person in Ontario tested negative for Ebola after returning from Ethiopia, noting the risk of the virus affecting people in Canada remains low. 

Dr. Joss Reimer, chief public officer of health, says the patient was tested as a precaution after they had symptoms consistent with the disease ravaging the Democratic Republic of Congo. 

Reimer also outlined how Canada is responding to the outbreak abroad, including new screening measures at the border. 

Those measures include more staff at common points of entry and screening questions about where people have travelled and if they have symptoms. They came into effect on Wednesday. 

Quarantine officers will be at the border to assess incoming travellers who are flagged in the screening process. 

She said decisions around a travel ban are made by cabinet, but that she would be providing advice on the “very fluid, rapidly evolving” issue based on a risk assessment that includes whether the virus is spreading to more areas. 

“It’s important that we look at how effective things like travel bans are. We need to be looking at whether or not there is any evidence that the outbreak is escaping the area that it’s currently concentrated,” Reimer says. 

In an earlier press conference from Geneva, WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the risk of Ebola in the region it’s affecting is now “very high,” while saying the global risk remains low.

He says there are now almost 750 suspected cases and 177 suspected deaths. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 22, 2026.

Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.

Hannah Alberga, The Canadian Press