updated
Person negative for Ebola in Ontario after testing out of ‘abundance of caution’
Posted May 22, 2026 8:15 am.
Last Updated May 22, 2026 12:01 pm.
A person in Ontario has tested negative for Ebola after returning from Ethiopia, Canada’s chief public health officer said on Friday.
“Out of an abundance of caution, one individual in Ontario underwent precautionary testing. This individual recently returned from Ethiopia and reported symptoms that were consistent with a range of illnesses,” Dr. Joss Reimer said.
“Both the initial testing that was conducted in Ontario as well as confirmatory testing at the National Microbiology Laboratory is negative.”
The latest update comes as rare type of Ebola is rapidly spreading in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda.
Dr. Reimer said the cases of Ebola remain localized in the affected regions and the global risk is low.
She also said enhanced screening questions went into effect on May 20 at the country’s airport kiosks for travellers who have been to the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda within the past 21 days.
Quarantine officers will be at the border to assess incoming travellers who are flagged in the screening process.
Dr. Reimer 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,” she said.
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 said there are now almost 750 suspected cases and 177 suspected deaths.
Dr. Reimer also provided an update on the hantavirus. She said there have been no additional cases in Canada and the overall risk to the public in this country is low at this time.
Provincial health officials told The Canadian Press on Thursday that the condition of a resident from Yukon remains stable at a hospital in British Columbia.
The other three passengers who disembarked the ship on the same day and are isolating on Vancouver Island are asymptomatic, including the infected individual’s partner.
Dr. Tedros said there are 12 hantavirus cases internationally, with the latest confirmed in the Netherlands on Friday.
No deaths have been reported since May 2, when the outbreak was first reported to WHO. All cases have been among crew members and passengers who were on the MV Hondius cruise ship.
