Maluku (DR Congo) (AFP) – The Ebola virus has spread across Democratic Republic of Congo at a frightening speed and one of the authorities' biggest fears is that it reaches the teeming capital of Kinshasa.
Issued on: 22/08/2026 - 16:22
3 min Reading time
That is why Yves Matwa walks up and down the jetty at the river port of Bende-Bende in Maluku, 70 kilometers (45 miles) northeast of Kinshasa, shouting through a loud-hailer at people arriving on ferries from afflicted zones.Every day hundreds of people come from northern and eastern DR Congo on wooden boats aiming to reach Kinshasa. Health teams are stepping up checks to protect the overcrowded city of nearly 17 million people where no cases have been reported -- so far."They come from high-risk areas where the disease is present, so when they arrive here, we have to carry out checks," said Matwa, a community engagement officer, who wears a t-shirt bearing the grim slogan "Stop Ebola"."I tell them they need to get ready and that if they show no signs, we'll be able to release them," he added.A queue of traders and families waited in line at the jetty. Three boats arrived during the night from Kisangani -- a major river city in the northeast where about 15 Ebola cases have been recorded since the outbreak was declared on May 15.
