WHO warns of 'catastrophic collision' of Ebola and war in DR Congo

The World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has warned of a "catastrophic collision" between the Ebola outbreak and ongoing conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The UN agency's head stated that insecurity in the eastern DRC, which has been plagued by armed groups for three decades, is making containment efforts extremely difficult.

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Eastern DRC now faces a catastrophic collision of disease and conflict with the Ebola outbreak in Ituri province outpacing the response.

"Eastern DRC now faces a catastrophic collision of disease and conflict with the Ebola outbreak in Ituri province outpacing the response," Tedros said on X. The WHO has recorded 10 confirmed and 223 suspected Ebola deaths in the DRC since the outbreak was declared in mid-May, out of more than 1,000 confirmed and suspected cases. The Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, responsible for this outbreak, has no vaccine or treatment.

Clashes are reportedly driving mass displacement and pushing exposed contacts into overcrowded camps, severing critical containment corridors. Tedros lamented that attacks on health facilities make tracking cases and their contacts nearly impossible, with frontline workers risking everything. State services have been largely absent in rural Ituri province, where the outbreak was first detected.

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Frontline workers are risking everything, while attacks on health facilities make tracking cases and their contacts nearly impossible.

In response to the escalating crisis, neighboring Uganda announced it was shutting its border with the DRC and imposing a 21-day quarantine on anyone arriving from the affected country. While the case fatality rate is currently under 25 percent, experts suspect the virus has been circulating undetected, and the full extent of the crisis may not yet be known. The WHO chief emphasized that community trust cannot be built or isolation centers established amidst such widespread violence.

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