Jakarta (ANTARA) – An Indonesian health policy group urged the government to strengthen preparedness for Ebola after the World Health Organization designated the outbreak a global health emergency, warning that the virus could escalate into a pandemic-like crisis.Mustakim, project manager for community-based surveillance at the Indonesian Health Policy Space (RUKKI), said on Tuesday that the WHO designation had raised global concern despite Indonesia reporting no confirmed local cases.“The PHEIC status is not merely a label, but a warning that Ebola carries a high risk of developing into a global health crisis like COVID-19,” Mustakim said in Jakarta.He said Indonesia needed preventive rather than reactive measures, citing Ebola’s fatality rate of between 25 percent and 90 percent in previous outbreaks.As of May 16, 2026, health authorities had reported eight laboratory-confirmed Ebola cases, 246 suspected cases, and 80 suspected deaths in Ituri province in the Democratic Republic of Congo, he said.Mustakim said Ebola can spread to humans through close contact with infected animals, including fruit bats, chimpanzees, forest antelopes, and porcupines found dead or sick in rainforest areas.Human-to-human transmission can occur through direct contact with the blood or bodily fluids of infected individuals, including through contaminated surfaces such as blood, feces, or vomit, he added.“The disease cannot spread before symptoms appear, but infected individuals remain contagious while the virus is still present in their blood,” Mustakim said.Although Indonesia has never recorded a confirmed Ebola case, authorities have maintained strict surveillance systems coordinated by the Health Ministry to prevent imported infections, he said.The government has also issued circulars strengthening monitoring at entry points, intensified early warning systems through cooperation with the WHO, and prepared national referral laboratories to test suspected samples.USU researcherSeparately, the University of North Sumatra's (USU's) global health security researcher, Fauzi Budi Satria, said recent outbreaks of zoonotic diseases such as Ebola and hantavirus highlighted weaknesses in global pandemic preparedness systems.His research showed global emergency health capacities had improved significantly since the COVID-19 pandemic, making countries relatively more prepared for future outbreaks.However, he said several areas still lagged behind, particularly in preparedness and response capacity for zoonotic diseases that could trigger future pandemics.Budi said the Ebola outbreak in Africa should serve as a critical test of Indonesia’s readiness to implement new health regulations introduced after lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic.