Stopping Deadly Bundibugyo Ebola: Clear Priorities, Urgent Action
Theo Al Jazeera English
The Ebola outbreak in the DRC has infected nearly 5,300 people and killed over 2,500. Health officials call for scaling up the response and prioritizing community engagement, frontline worker safety, and cross-border cooperation to contain the deadly Bundibugyo virus.
As the Ebola outbreak caused by the Bundibugyo virus escalates in the Democratic Republic of Congo, international health authorities are calling for a two-to-threefold scale-up of the current response capacity, while underscoring the pivotal role of communities in curbing the disease.
According to data as of 21 August, the DRC has recorded 5,290 infections and 2,516 deaths across 56 health zones. This is currently the second-largest Ebola outbreak ever recorded and is spreading faster than previous ones. The cause is attributed to decades of insecurity from armed conflict, which has displaced more than one million people, disrupted social order, and shattered health service systems.
Representatives of communities in Bunia—survivors, women, youth, local organizations, and health workers—delivered a clear message: let them participate. They know their communities, know where families seek medical care, how information spreads, and why trust has eroded. Empowering communities will accelerate the response, enable early detection, support contact tracing, and counter dangerous rumors.
Despite significant progress under the leadership of the national government, the World Health Organization (WHO), and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), the emergency continues in Ituri province and five others. Uganda has halted domestic transmission, and some health zones in Ituri and South Kivu have broken the chains of infection, showing that control is possible if detection is rapid and collaboration with communities is strong.
Alarmingly, as of 20 August, 158 health workers had been infected, with 45 deaths. The safety of frontline workers is central to stopping transmission. Experts demand protective equipment, training, medical supplies, timely salaries, and psychosocial support for them.
To turn the tide, surveillance teams need to be expanded, risk communication and community engagement strengthened, and more safe and dignified burial teams deployed. Special efforts must target vulnerable populations in remote areas where insecurity prevails.
Delayed or fragmented funding will have severe consequences. Donors need to support integrated strengthening of health and relief organizations rather than funding isolated efforts. Cross-border cooperation must also be reinforced, turning borders into bridges for coordinated public health action rather than imposing border closures or travel restrictions, which can cause disruption without stopping transmission.
The clear priority is to find every case, follow every contact, break every chain of transmission, protect health workers, and save lives. WHO and Africa CDC are committed to continuing to work with the DRC, neighboring countries, and communities, putting the full weight of international and continental cooperation behind the national-led response. Experience from Uganda and some areas of the DRC shows the outbreak can be controlled if action is fast, decisive, and community-centered.
