The return of Ebola in eastern Congo is becoming more than a local health emergency. It is fast turning into a global warning about what happens when fragile health systems lose international funding, surveillance networks weaken and frontline hospitals are left to fight deadly outbreaks with almost no resources.
In the conflict-hit Ituri province, health workers say they are struggling to contain Congo’s 17th Ebola outbreak without enough protective equipment, medicine or staff.
Some clinics reportedly lack basic gloves and masks. Others do not even have enough motorbikes to reach remote villages where suspected infections are emerging.
For communities already dealing with violence, poverty and displacement, the outbreak is creating a new layer of fear and economic disruption.
The World Health Organization declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern on May 16 after the rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola spread silently for weeks before being detected.
