Ebola in DR Congo: What COVID-19 should teach us about the need to care

OPINION ARTICLE

Roughly every 45 minutes, another person in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) dies of Ebola. Few of us in the West will have noticed. Yet only a few years ago we lived through something that people in eastern Congo would recognise: afflicted by ongoing civil war, this outbreak leaves hospitals heavily under-resourced and under strain, while families are kept apart, loved ones buried without proper farewells, and fear and misinformation undermine trust.

For many, COVID-19 is but a memory, but here In DR Congo, communities are facing another devastating outbreak. It is also one that has received far less international attention.

Since May 2026, a fast-spreading Ebola epidemic with its epicenter in Bunia, Ituri Province, has placed enormous pressure on communities and health services already weakened by decades of conflict, displacement and limited access to healthcare. (See Editorial Note by Global Geneva editors at the end of this op-ed)

While Ebola and COVID-19 are very different diseases, the human experience of an epidemic remains strikingly familiar. Afflicted with fear and isolation, healthcare is suddenly out of reach for most.

An international emergency that deserves our attention

On 17 May 2026, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern,” recognising serious global risks coupled with the urgent need for a coordinated response.

The outbreak is caused by the rare Bundibugyo species of Ebolavirus, for which there is currently no approved vaccine or specific treatment. It is already the largest Ebola outbreak ever recorded in DR Congo, and the second-largest anywhere, surpassed only by the West African epidemic of 2014–2016.

Latest situation on the Ebola outbreak.

As of 19 October 2026, the European Centre for Disease Control has reported a total of 9,552 confirmed cases, including 4,602 related deaths, with new cases daily, most of them in Ituri and North Kivu provinces.

The disease, however, has now spread beyond DR Congo’s borders with Kenya confirming its first case on 6 October. Since then, there have been seven more reported cases, including one death, with Nigeria announcing its first case on 20 October. Countries such as Ethiopia, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi have imposed stringent precautions at border crossing points and airports on anyone seeking to enter from the DRC.

Behind these figures are families who have lost loved ones, while healthcare workers risk their lives daily in extremely difficult conditions. As for local communities, they seek to protect themselves with very little outside support.

Ebola may seem a distant problem. But an international health emergency should not have to reach our own doorstep before it deserves our attention. COVID-19 showed how profoundly a disease outbreak can upend our lives. It also showed that effective public health responses depend on cooperation, reliable information and trust.

Medair aid workers in Butembo.

Medair

Those lessons are just as relevant in DR Congo today.

When an outbreak affects an entire health system

During COVID-19, hospitals across Europe struggled to maintain routine care. Appointments were postponed, healthcare workers were stretched to breaking point, and some patients delayed seeking treatment for fear of infection.

Similar pressures are now unfolding in eastern DR Congo, where many health facilities were already operating with very limited resources. While various local and international relief agencies are seeking to help, the reduction of significant outside support by major donors over the past year is having a dire impact.

Editorial Note: DRC continues to be stricken by conflict severely undermining humanitarian and development efforts ever since fighting broke out over its exceptional mineral wealth with unresolved tensions dating back to the 1994 Rwandan genocide. This has led to rising corruption benefitting armed militia but also smugglers, multinational trading entities and states cashing in on conflict minerals, such as cobalt, coltan, and gold, essential to global industries like smartphones and electric vehicles. According to human rights groups, Rwanda illegally exports hundreds of millions of dollars of DRC sourced minerals.

When healthcare workers become infected, facilities may have to suspend services. Patients afraid of Ebola may put off seeking help for other illnesses. A pregnant woman may be unable to reach safe delivery care; a child with malaria may not receive life-saving treatment in time.

These consequences are less visible than the daily Ebola figures, but they can be just as devastating. Responders must therefore ensure that essential healthcare remains available alongside specialised Ebola treatment.

Trust can matter as much as medical equipment

Another lesson from COVID-19 is that managing an epidemic takes more than medical expertise. Misinformation and fear shape people’s decisions about whether to seek care and whom to trust.

In DR Congo, some people fear that entering an Ebola treatment centre means they will never return home. Others hesitate to report symptoms because they dread being separated from their families. (See Editorial Note below).

These fears must be met with empathy, transparency and reliable information. Local healthcare workers and trusted community members play a vital role in helping people recognise symptoms and encouraging them to seek treatment early.

Even more so than before, the DRC faces an escalating humanitarian crisis, with hunger surging in conflict-hit eastern provinces.

A total of 26.5 million people face acute food insecurity, including 2.65 million people in 48 Ebola-affected health zones. Nearly half of all children under 5: a total 3.2 million. Many are stunted due to chronic malnutrition, with impaired growth and development.

Now the fastest-spreading Ebola outbreak on record, its resurgence (See Ebola in eastern DRC) is deeply alarming.

During COVID-19, many of us felt how painful it was when restrictions prevented us from gathering with family or saying goodbye to loved ones in familiar ways. For families affected by Ebola, such disruptions can be even harder to bear. Infection prevention measures must be carried out in ways that are both safe and respectful of people’s dignity, beliefs and cultural practices.

Trust cannot be demanded. It must be earned.

What humanitarian organisations can contribute

Medair, an international humanitarian organisation founded in 1989 and headquartered near Lausanne, Switzerland, has worked alongside communities in eastern DR Congo for more than 30 years. From our Global Support Office in Switzerland, I support colleagues responding to the outbreak on the ground.

Working with local health authorities and other humanitarian organisations, our teams are helping to contain Ebola while keeping essential healthcare accessible. This includes supporting more than 50 health facilities with infection prevention measures, training healthcare workers, strengthening community engagement and providing specialised care at our Ebola treatment centre in North Kivu, one of the worst-affected provinces.

No single organisation can contain an outbreak of this scale. It requires coordinated action by health authorities, communities, humanitarian agencies and international partners.

Why you should care

Switzerland has a long humanitarian tradition, and Geneva is home to the WHO and many of the organisations coordinating this response. But the responsibility to act does not rest solely with governments or humanitarian professionals. Each of us can contribute.

We can stay informed, share reliable information and talk about crises that receive little media attention, so that affected communities are not forgotten. We can support humanitarian organisations through donations, volunteering or encouraging others to engage with their work.

We do not need to experience Ebola ourselves to understand why protecting those facing it matters. DR Congo may be thousands of kilometres from Switzerland, but the need for safety, healthcare, dignity and human connection is universal.

Our experience of COVID-19 should be more than a memory of what we endured. As this outbreak unfolds, it should remind us why we must stand alongside others when they face a health emergency of their own.

Thomas Simon is Head of Country Programme for Medair in DR Congo. Based at Medair’s Global Support Office near Lausanne, he supports the organisation’s humanitarian operations, including its Ebola response. Medair is an international humanitarian organisation that responds to conflict, disease and disasters so that the world’s most vulnerable and hard-to-reach people can live with dignity and hope.

Editorial Notes (The following comments are by the editors of Global Geneva are to explain context. They do not represent Medair)

In early 2025, Rwanda-backed M23 rebels seized Goma and Bukavu. They continue to hold significant territory in the east despite a U.S.-brokered peace agreement and ongoing Qatar-mediated talks. With seven million people displaced according to the UN Refugee Agency, Rwandan troops remain on the ground, and key provisions of the peace deal are unimplemented.

According to recently returned international aid workers, rival factions such as M23 simply isolate villages suspected of harbouring Ebola by preventing anyone from leaving while denying them the possibility of accessing food and basic health care.