GENEVA — The 79th World Health Assembly adopted a formal resolution Thursday calling for urgent coordinated international action to contain the Ebola Sudan virus outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, as the total number of suspected cases surpassed 550 and the confirmed death toll climbed past 140, according to WHO officials speaking on the sidelines of the assembly.

The resolution, backed by a broad coalition of African Union member states alongside European and North American delegations, directs the WHO Secretariat to fast-track deployment of experimental Ebola Sudan vaccine stockpiles and to mobilise emergency funding through the Pandemic Fund. Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who had expressed deep concern earlier in the week about the outbreak's scale and speed, welcomed the resolution as a signal that member states were prepared to act before the situation deteriorated further.

Union Health Minister JP Nadda, representing India at the Assembly, reaffirmed his country's commitment to contributing technical and logistical support to the response effort, citing India's experience deploying rapid response teams during previous Ebola emergencies. Several other middle-income nations pledged bilateral assistance, including medical personnel and personal protective equipment, to supplement WHO field operations in affected provinces.

Public health experts attending the Assembly noted that the Ebola Sudan strain presents distinct vaccine challenges compared with the Zaire strain responsible for previous large-scale outbreaks, as the most widely stockpiled vaccines offer limited cross-protection. The resolution specifically calls on the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, known as CEPI, to expedite clinical data review for Sudan-specific vaccine candidates currently in mid-stage trials.

The DRC's health ministry, in a statement coordinated with the WHO Geneva office, said contact tracing operations had identified over 1,800 individuals requiring monitoring across three provinces, straining local public health infrastructure. International partners including Médecins Sans Frontières and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies confirmed they were scaling up treatment centre capacity in the most affected areas. WHO officials indicated a further situation update would be issued Friday.