International Health agencies are on high alert after the rapidly spreading Ebola Bundibugyo virus species infected 19 internally displaced people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, killing five, the UN refugee agency confirmed Friday.
The UNHCR reported that at least five of Ituri province’s 69 displacement camps have recorded Ebola cases, compounding an outbreak that local authorities say has produced nearly 4,000 cases and more than 1,800 deaths since it was declared on 15 May. The agency stressed that no infections have been detected among refugees or asylum-seekers, which would risk cross-border transmission.
World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned during a visit to Kinshasa that the virus is overwhelming current response efforts. “We all agree that we must urgently and massively scale up all our efforts across all pillars of the response and by all partners,” he posted on social media.
The outbreak overlaps with one of the world’s most protracted humanitarian crises. The affected provinces — Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu, Haut-Uele and Tshopo — host approximately 4.4 million internally displaced people. Conflict in eastern DRC, reignited in 2021 when the Rwandan-backed M23 militia resumed fighting against the Congolese military, has displaced more than eight million people over decades of violence rooted in the aftermath of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda.
Displacement camps often lack basic water and sanitation infrastructure, and many residents distrust health services, creating conditions that facilitate Ebola transmission, UNHCR warned.
The UN is coordinating with humanitarian partners and local authorities to expand surveillance, laboratory testing, treatment capacity and community engagement. UN peacekeepers are working to prevent attacks on healthcare facilities. In May, UN relief chief Tom Fletcher allocated up to $60 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund toward the Ebola response, while WHO and partners continue building and supporting Ebola Treatment Centres.
With new cases doubling in some hotspots over the past week, Tedros called for intensified countermeasures, including stronger coordination with the Congolese government, better protection for health workers, and accelerated access to care and safe burials.
“WHO remains committed to working alongside the Government of the DRC, Africa CDC and all partners, and we will stop this outbreak, together,” Tedros wrote.
