Rwampara (DR Congo) (AFP) – At the hospital in Rwampara, one of the epicentres of a deadly Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a simple plastic strip marked off the isolation centre for patients, yet to be built.
Issued on: 20/05/2026 - 14:04
4 min Reading time
The response is slow to get off the ground in the vast central African country, where its 17th flare-up of the highly contagious haemorrhagic fever has hit hard-to-reach eastern regions beset for years by armed groups.The hospital is only about 12 kilometres (7.5 miles) from Bunia, the main city in Ituri, one of the country's most violence-hit provinces.But equipment to isolate and treat those infected by Ebola, which is transmitted through close contact, only began arriving in Rwampara on Monday, several days after the outbreak was declared.In front of the hospital gates, a guard in a surgical mask did his best to keep track of all the comings and goings.A few basins for handwashing have been set up near the blue-painted buildings of the hospital, where around a hundred suspected Ebola patients are already being cared for, according to an official.Inside, nurses had no full protective gear before Friday. The residents of the area are even worse off."We dig graves and bury dead people without gloves or any protection," said Salama Bamunoba, a youth organisation representative.
