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Medical professionals at Rwampara Hospital in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have been on the frontline since the first Ebola case was identified at the start of the latest outbreak.
The health workers continue to treat patients and prevent the spread of the virus despite severe resource shortages.
A young woman arrived at Rwampara Hospital on a motorcycle as overwhelmed health workers battled the deadly Ebola outbreak that has drawn global attention.
The town in the conflict-hit eastern Democratic Republic of Congo is one of the centres of a recent surge in cases of the highly contagious disease, which can cause severe bleeding and organ failure.
More than 200 people have died, and over 900 suspected cases have been recorded since the outbreak was declared on May 15, 2026, prompting the World Health Organisation (WHO) to declare a global health emergency.
There are concerns that the virus may have been circulating undetected for some time and that the full extent of the health crisis is yet to emerge.
Upon the young woman’s arrival, a health worker immediately checked her temperature, which was 39.7 degrees Celsius, and noticed symptoms even before she got off the motorcycle, including bleeding from the nose, a common sign of Ebola, which causes haemorrhagic fever.
“She gave birth a month ago, and two weeks after giving birth she began to fall ill,” her sister said, declining to give her name.
According to AFP, state services have largely been absent for years in Ituri province, the epicentre of the outbreak, where armed groups have operated for years and regularly carried out massacres.
Families in rural communities are often left without proper medical support when the first signs of illness appear.
Her sister said the family initially believed she had malaria and treated her with tablets and medicinal plants, but her condition did not improve.
The motorcycle rider who brought the women to the hospital wore a surgical mask but no gloves or protective clothing.
Hospital worker Dieudonne Sezabo immediately sprayed the rider and the motorcycle with chlorine to prevent contamination.
Ebola spreads through direct contact with bodily fluids.
Credit: Reuters
The Bundibugyo strain is responsible for the current outbreak, but there are no approved vaccines for it, further complicating the response. The strain also has a fatality rate of up to 50 per cent.
Unable to walk on her own, the woman was assisted by her sister, who wore gloves but left her arms bare, to the hospital entrance, where staff in full protective gear led her to the isolation ward.
The health response has been slow in Ituri, which relies heavily on the international airport in Bunia, the regional capital located about 12 kilometres (7.5 miles) from Rwampara, for medical aid deliveries.
The Congolese government on Saturday announced a ban on all flights to Bunia except those with special authorisation.
The DRC is also struggling to isolate patients.
Two isolation tents set up by the NGO Alima in the early days of the response were set ablaze by an angry crowd demanding the body of a friend who had died from Ebola.
Isaac Mukengi, medical director of Rwampara Hospital, said health workers are concerned that several patients who were in isolation returned to their communities after the fire at the isolation centre.
“We regularly send teams into the field to trace patients, convince them to return to the treatment centre so they can continue receiving care and limit the spread of the epidemic,” Mukengi told AFP.
Many of the cases have been recorded in the epidemic’s epicentre in the DRC’s northeastern Ituri province, many in hard-to-access areas plagued by the Congolese east’s litany of armed groups. (Photo by Seros MUYISA / AFP)
Pierre Boisselet, head of the Ebuteli research institute, said public trust in health authorities is essential for isolation rules, safe burials and contact tracing to succeed.
“The current situation of conflict and fragmented authority does not, at first glance, seem very favourable,” he said.
Healthcare workers are also trying to ensure that patients’ families can visit them under medical supervision in order to reduce tensions and encourage people to seek treatment.
“From a moral standpoint, it is important to establish this communication between patients and their family members,” said Ganou Lamissa, logistics coordinator for the NGO Alima.
“This reassures not only the patients, but also the relatives, who can know under what conditions the patients are being cared for,” he added.
This is the 17th Ebola outbreak in the DRC, one of the world’s poorest countries. In the absence of a vaccine, efforts to contain the disease depend largely on preventive measures and the rapid detection of cases.
