The World Health Organization is warning that Ebola-hit eastern Democratic Republic of Congo is facing a dangerous overlap of violence and disease that is making the outbreak much harder to contain.
WHO chief Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the region, especially Ituri province in the east, is dealing with what he called a “catastrophic collision of disease and conflict,” with Ebola cases spreading faster than health teams can respond.
In a post on X, he said aid workers cannot gain trust or isolate patients properly “while bombs are falling.” He is expected to travel to DR Congo on Wednesday to push for a stronger international response.
So far, around 220 suspected deaths have been linked to the outbreak since it was declared. Health officials say nearly 1,000 people are showing symptoms consistent with Ebola, while only 17 deaths have been confirmed through laboratory testing.
The situation on the ground remains extremely difficult. Fighting between armed groups has forced thousands of people from their homes, damaged already weak health services, and made it dangerous for medical teams to reach affected communities. Poor roads and limited funding have also slowed the response.
Ituri province, where most cases are being recorded, has been under military administration since 2021, following years of instability involving dozens of armed groups.
Tedros said stopping the outbreak depends on safe access for humanitarian teams. But continued clashes, he warned, are pushing exposed contacts into crowded displacement camps and cutting off key containment efforts.
“Frontline workers are risking everything,” he said, adding that attacks on health facilities are making it nearly impossible to trace infections properly.
International concern is also growing. Several countries, including Canada, the Bahamas, and the United States, have introduced travel restrictions on people from DR Congo and nearby affected countries.
The outbreak is being driven by a rare strain of Ebola known as Bundibugyo, for which there is currently no approved vaccine or treatment. Health agencies are now racing to track more than 3,600 known contacts of infected individuals.
Medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières says the response is still lagging behind the outbreak, warning that insecurity and weak infrastructure are making it difficult to get supplies and staff into the hardest-hit areas.
Despite growing international support, aid groups say they are still working without a clear picture of how widespread the outbreak really is.
As one MSF official put it, “the virus is still ahead of us.”
