Ebola Crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo
- Mary Einbinder
- 5 days ago
- 6 min read
Families in the eastern DRC and Uganda are facing a new Ebola outbreak alongside conflict, displacement, hunger, and fragile health systems. CARE and local partners are supporting preparedness efforts, with a focus on sharing trusted information, supporting infection prevention, and addressing the heightened risks facing women and girls.
About the Ebola crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) declared its 17th Ebola outbreak on May 15, 2026, after cases were confirmed in Ituri Province. The region is already heavily affected by conflict, displacement, hunger, and limited access to healthcare and other basic services, all of which make it harder to stop the spread of disease.
This outbreak involves the Bundibugyo strain, a type of Ebola for which there is currently no approved vaccine. That makes rapid detection, community engagement, and prevention efforts especially important. As of May 19, authorities reported 536 suspected cases, 105 probable cases, 34 confirmed cases, and 134 deaths. However, health experts believe the virus may have been spreading undetected for two to three weeks before the outbreak was officially declared, raising concerns that transmission may be more widespread than current confirmed numbers reflect.
The World Health Organization has classified the outbreak as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, highlighting the risk of regional spread. Suspected cases have already been reported in Goma, a major transit hub in the DRC, and in Uganda, which shares a busy border with the DRC. People regularly cross between nations for work, family visits, trade, health care, and religious gatherings. While this movement is essential to daily life, it can also increase the risk of diseases spreading across borders.
Humanitarian organizations are concerned that reduced funding across the region is straining already fragile health and water systems at a moment when rapid disease detection, community outreach, hygiene access, and public trust are especially critical Funding cuts have significantly reduced CARE’s operational capacity in DRC, weakening critical community-level disease surveillance and preparedness systems. In many affected communities, conflict and displacement have already limited access to clinics, clean water, and routine care — increasing the challenges of containing infectious disease outbreaks quickly.
“We have years of experience of preparing to contain the spread of this killer virus, working alongside local leaders, youth and women’s groups, and community action cells,” said Dr. Amadou Bocoum, CARE country director in the DRC
“but today we have to do it with a lot less funding, supporting a local health system that is close to collapse and trying to prevent the spread in communities whose access to basic services such as clean water has been decimated by donor aid cuts.”
Ebola is a rare but severe viral illness. It spreads through direct contact with the blood or body fluids of someone who is sick or has died from the disease, as well as through contaminated surfaces or materials. Early symptoms can resemble more common illnesses like the flu, including fever, fatigue, muscle pain, headache, sore throat, abdominal pain, vomiting, and diarrhea — making fast testing and safe care especially important.
For families, Ebola can disrupt every part of daily life. People who become sick need immediate care, but caring for loved ones at home can increase the risk of infection. Survivors may also face fear or stigma when they return to their communities. That is why Ebola response depends not only on medical care, but also on trust: clear, accurate information delivered by local health workers, community leaders, and others people know and trust.
But trust, testing, and timely care all depend on systems that are already under pressure in Uganda and the DRC. Recent humanitarian and global health funding cuts have reduced support for outbreak preparedness, local health systems, medical supplies, sanitation, community outreach, violence prevention, and more. Infectious disease control professionals in East and Central Africa say those cuts have left health facilities with less protective equipment, weaker surveillance capacity, and fewer frontline resources. In crowded displacement settings, delays in testing, referrals, or public information can allow Ebola to spread before families have the support they need.
Women and girls can face greater risks during an Ebola outbreak. During previous Ebola outbreaks in the DRC, women accounted for more than half of confirmed and probable cases. In many households, they are expected to be the primary caregivers for children, older relatives, and family members who are sick.
“As caregivers, women are at heightened risk of exposure to infection,” said Dr. Bocoum. “A combination of their immense needs already going unmet and the spread of this highly infectious virus could be devastating.”
Research in Uganda’s border districts found that women are also more likely to care for sick people at home and participate in burial practices that may increase exposure risk. Disease outbreaks can also disrupt health care, clean water, protection services, and livelihoods.
For women and girls, those disruptions can mean reduced access to maternal health care, contraception, routine medical support, and services that help prevent gender-based violence — with consequences that can last long after an outbreak is contained. UNFPA has also warned that, in communities already affected by conflict and displacement, the economic effects of disease outbreaks can increase the risk of sexual exploitation and abuse for women and children.
“Thousands of women and their families already struggling to survive hunger, displacement, and violence in the eastern DRC now face, again, the terrifying threat of Ebola,” said Dr. Amadou Bocoum, CARE country director in the DRC
What CARE is doing
CARE has supported previous Ebola responses in the DRC, including during the 2018 outbreak in North Kivu. That outbreak became one of the most complex Ebola responses in the country’s history because it unfolded in an active conflict zone. CARE’s work focused on filling critical gaps in water, sanitation, and hygiene; community engagement and public information campaigns; infection prevention training; and distribution of personal protective equipment for frontline workers. CARE also distributed dignity kits for women and girls containing supplies such as soap, hand sanitizer, sanitary pads, underwear, and other essential items.
Across communities at risk today, CARE’s preparedness efforts focus on infection prevention and control, hygiene promotion, disease surveillance, and community engagement. CARE is mobilizing to distribute hygiene kits to 20,000 households while supporting public awareness and risk communication efforts in affected areas. In Uganda, CARE is supporting the Ministry of Health’s Ebola preparedness measures, including screening and surveillance at points of entry, rapid response readiness in high-risk districts, infection prevention and control, and public health communication.
CARE staff say reduced humanitarian funding has weakened emergency preparedness capacity in eastern DRC at a critical moment. Before funding cuts, CARE planned to pre-position water, sanitation, and hygiene supplies in smaller field offices such as Bunia, the capital of Ituri province, allowing faster response to outbreaks in surrounding communities. Now, emergency supplies must instead be transported from CARE’s larger hub in Goma. Ongoing insecurity in eastern DRC has made the direct route impossible, forcing trucks to travel through Uganda and Rwanda before re-entering DRC further north — increasing travel time from roughly four hours to nearly 24 hours.
CARE is mobilizing emergency response efforts targeting between 500,000 and 1 million people in affected and high-risk areas, including Ituri Province, key health zones in North Kivu, and selected urban and cross-border locations. Priority will be given to communities in transmission hotspots, health workers, displaced and mobile populations, and vulnerable groups, including women and girls. CARE Uganda will continue monitoring the outbreak and adapting field operations as needed, and is prepared to scale up community-based support if additional funding becomes available.
