Ebola Suspected Cases Surge Past 900 in Eastern Congo as Conflict Hinders Response

A Rare Strain With No Quick Fix

The current outbreak is caused by the rare Bundibugyo variant of the Ebola virus. There is currently no approved vaccine and no specific treatment against this strain, according to the WHO.

The infection chain can only be interrupted if infected persons are treated under the highest safety standards and their contacts isolate for three weeks. However, ongoing fighting repeatedly displaces people, and contacts of infected persons cannot distance themselves from others in overcrowded refugee camps.

Tedros described the ongoing fighting as the biggest obstacle to containing the disease. "We cannot help as long as helpers must fear for their safety and their lives," he stated. "A ceasefire, even a short one, would save lives."

Displacement and a Growing Toll

According to the WHO, around 100,000 people were displaced in the past month by fighting between government troops and rebel groups. The African Union health authority has registered 1,077 suspected cases, including 246 deaths, while the WHO last reported 223 suspected Ebola deaths since the latest outbreak began, with 10 deaths confirmed.

The WHO estimates the actual extent of the outbreak is likely larger than confirmed figures. New suspected cases are being reported from both Congo-Kinshasa and neighboring Uganda.

On Wednesday, the WHO reported the first recovery case after a confirmed Ebola infection in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. WHO specialist Anaïs Legand said a patient had recovered and left the hospital, the first person since the epidemic began to be sent home from a treatment center after two negative tests.

Tedros stated upon arrival in Kinshasa that the outbreak can "be stopped." He later posted on X: "Together we will overcome this outbreak."

Aid Arrives, But Access Remains Blocked

The WHO is working with partners to accelerate clinical studies on possible vaccines and therapies against the Bundibugyo strain. Its scientific advisory bodies have already recommended studies on several promising products, though it will still be several months before possible treatments become available.

UNICEF reported that 100 tons of relief supplies from the European Union arrived in Bunia. The EU aid delivery includes protective equipment for medical personnel, medicines, and hygiene items and is intended to benefit about 100,000 people.

Welthungerhilfe warns of a humanitarian catastrophe in the provinces of Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu. Around ten million people there are already affected by armed conflicts, displacement, and severely restricted access to humanitarian aid.

Ursula Langkamp, Welthungerhilfe country director in the DRC, said: "The people in eastern Congo have not had peace for years — first hunger, war and displacement, and now Ebola on top of that." She warned that aid deliveries are no longer reaching some conflict areas at all, and that rising food and transport prices, closed borders, and the economic consequences of the Iran war are additionally burdening the population.

Tedros stated that the WHO does not support travel bans because they "do not achieve much." The United States has imposed entry restrictions on people from the affected countries.