The World Health Organization has warned that the current Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is spreading faster than health teams can control, and that neighbouring countries face a high risk of cross-border transmission. WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the agency is urgently expanding its response but is being overtaken by the epidemic, and urged immediate action from neighbouring states. He also announced that, to support the response, he will travel to the DRC with Chikwe Ihekweazu, head of WHO’s health emergencies programme.
Tedros told an online African Union meeting that there have been 220 suspected deaths linked to this outbreak so far. Earlier in the month he had declared the situation a public health emergency of international concern after more than 300 suspected cases and 88 deaths in the DRC, plus two deaths reported in Uganda.
The response in the northeastern Ituri province, where the outbreak is centered, has been hindered by violent attacks on medical facilities. In Mongbwalu, residents attacked the general referral hospital on consecutive days, burning isolation tents set up by aid teams and forcing dozens of patients to flee. Hospital staff reported waves of attackers mobilised by relatives of a local religious leader who had died of Ebola; police and soldiers later restored order. During one incident a critically ill patient with haemorrhaging died while attempting to escape.
A similar confrontation in Rwampara, near Bunia, saw a crowd set fire to a treatment centre after authorities refused to hand over the body of an Ebola victim for a family burial. Families often demand traditional rites that include washing and touching the body; such practices are highly infectious and have been shown in past outbreaks to accelerate transmission, which is why burials are handled by trained teams.
The outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo ebolavirus, a rare strain for which there is no approved vaccine or specific treatment. Hotspots include Rwampara, Mongbwalu, Nyankunde and Bunia in Ituri — a region that is commercially active, mineral-rich and affected by longstanding ethnic and militia violence between groups such as the Hema and Lendu. That conflict, linked to control of land and resources, has contributed to insecurity in the area and has killed tens of thousands since the late 1990s. Cases have also been reported in parts of North and South Kivu, including Butembo, rebel-controlled Goma, and Bukavu.
Uganda has confirmed additional cases tied to the outbreak. On Monday the Ugandan health ministry said two more people had tested positive, bringing the country’s confirmed total to seven; the new infections were among health workers at a private facility in Kampala.
WHO officials have said the combination of insecurity in Ituri and North Kivu, population movement in the region, and the absence of an approved vaccine for this virus complicates containment efforts. The organisation is scaling up operations and mobilising resources, but warns the situation remains volatile and requires urgent, coordinated action across borders.
