The Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has arrived in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo. His visit aims to bolster the response against an outbreak of a rare Ebola strain, even as medical teams on the ground grapple with severe equipment shortages, public mistrust, and active armed groups in a highly volatile region.
Characterising the crisis as a “very complex outbreak,” the WHO chief noted that heavy population displacement driven by regional conflict, alongside widespread food insecurity, is severely complicating containment strategies.
“To come here is to really show to the community that they’re not alone," Tedros told reporters at the Kinshasa airport late on Thursday.
“Pushing orders from my comfortable office in Geneva is easy, but I’m asking my colleagues to work with the community and I am asking communities to protect themselves,” he added. “That thing can be stopped,” he said, referring to the outbreak.
Rapid Transmission
A primary reason the outbreak has been so difficult to control is that the virus likely circulated undetected for weeks before being officially identified in mid-May.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies reported that three of its volunteers in Ituri died after apparently contracting Ebola while performing unrelated health duties on 27 March. This occurred more than a month before the earliest suspected fatality officially cited by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
Despite an increasingly organised medical response and a steady influx of equipment, the virus continues to spread faster than containment efforts can manage.
According to data released by Congo’s Public Health Emergency Operations Centre (which includes the WHO), 1,077 suspected cases and 238 suspected deaths had been documented as of Tuesday.
International Aid Influx
International relief has begun arriving in Ituri province, the epicentre of the crisis:
- The European Union’s emergency medical aid was delivered on Thursday, with subsequent shipments scheduled over the next eight days.
- The United States announced an additional $80 million in aid, bringing its total financial commitment to over $112 million.
Local reports from Bunia, the provincial capital, indicate that the response has stabilised following the arrival of these resources.
At Rwampara Hospital's newly established treatment centre, operations are noticeably more structured. The facility has seen a boost in deployed personnel, stricter infection prevention protocols, and round-the-clock teams outfitted in protective gear—though new patients continue to arrive continuously. Similar operational improvements were observed at Bunia General Hospital, where new medical kits, emergency funds, and backup staff have revitalised frontline efforts.
The Challenge of Bundibugyo Strain (Bundibugyo Ebola Strain)
- No approved vaccine is available
- No approved targeted treatment
- Only 1 patient's recovery has been documented so far
“We are currently exploring the use of more and more drugs and compounds that can help save even more lives, because, as I’ve mentioned, this disease initially presents just like any other infectious disease we’re familiar with: dizziness, headache, fever, vomiting and diarrhea,” Congo’s Health Minister Samuel Roger Kamba said on Thursday night.
Medical workers have faced immense hurdles trying to suppress the Bundibugyo virus, a specific Ebola variant that lacks an approved vaccine or targeted therapeutic treatment. The shortage of basic supplies has been so severe that some doctors have had to wear expired medical masks while treating highly infectious patients.
To date, officials confirm that only one patient has successfully recovered from the disease. Geographically, the illness is no longer contained to Ituri; cases have now been reported further south in both North Kivu and South Kivu provinces.
