DR Congo Ebola emergency worsens as violence displaces thousands from Ituri camp

Humanitarian teams working to contain the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are raising alarm over renewed fighting that has driven thousands of people from a displacement camp in the country’s resource-rich east, according to the United Nations (UN). Since 20 September, security incidents have been reported around Kigonze displacement camp in Bunia, northeast Ituri province, with soldiers entering the site to search for weapons and suspected members of non-State armed groups, and gunshots heard. The dispersal of families threatens both civilian protection and disease containment efforts in the epicenter of the outbreak.

Confirmed Ebola cases in the DRC have surpassed 8,000 for the first time since the current outbreak began, according to health authority data published on Monday. The latest situation report records 8,067 confirmed cases and 3,901 deaths, putting the case fatality rate at 48.4 per cent. According to the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, Kigonze camp hosts nearly 19,000 displaced people. Residents have faced “armed violence, threats and intimidation against civilians, arrests, forced displacement and the destruction of shelters,” the Office said.

Securing humanitarian access to Kigonze remains difficult, raising fears the exodus could complicate efforts to contain the outbreak. UN Humanitarian Coordinator in the DRC, Damien Mama, said many families had left the site to seek refuge with host families. Aid workers are now struggling to assess needs, distribute essential assistance and maintain protection services. The UN fears that the unplanned departure of thousands of displaced people, combined with restricted access to the site, could hamper disease surveillance, particularly contact tracing, as well as the continuity of essential services and outbreak control operations.

Across Ituri province, more than 1.1 million people are displaced by conflict and violence, including more than 373,000 living in displacement sites. Mr. Mama called for the protection of civilians and safe, unimpeded humanitarian access, while reaffirming the humanitarian community’s support for the Congolese authorities. He stressed that the civilian character of the site must be preserved and that families “who have already lost everything” must be able to find safety and dignity where they have find refuge. The World Health Organization (WHO) noted that conflict, insecurity, displacement and limited access to basic services continue to undermine surveillance, case detection and contact tracing.

Ituri remains the epicenter of the outbreak and continues to report a gradual decline in cases compared with the peak observed in mid-August, although transmission remains high. In neighboring North Kivu province, infections rose substantially, reaching their highest level on record in mid-September before declining in the most recent reporting days. The outbreak is caused by the Bundibugy virus and has become the largest and deadliest Ebola outbreak in DRC, surpassing the 2018–2020 emergency. It is second only to the 2014–2016 Ebola epidemic in West Africa, which infected more than 28,600 people and killed over 11,000 in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.