WHO pleads for ceasefire in eastern Congo as Ebola cases surge amid conflict
GENEVA/DAKAR — The head of the World Health Organization on Wednesday made an urgent plea for warring parties in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo to lay down their arms, arguing that relentless violence is fueling one of the most dangerous Ebola outbreaks in recent years.
Speaking ahead of a planned visit to the region, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola — for which no licensed vaccine or specific treatment exists — has been spreading unchecked as mass displacement pushes people into overcrowded camps where the virus thrives.
“Eastern DRC now faces a catastrophic collision of disease and conflict, with the Ebola outbreak in Ituri province outpacing the response,” Tedros said in a statement on X. “We cannot build community trust or isolate the sick while bombs are falling. We urge all warring parties to agree to an immediate ceasefire to contain this outbreak.”
The WHO declared the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern earlier this month, and case numbers have climbed sharply since. More than 900 suspected cases and over 200 suspected deaths have been reported across three provinces: North Kivu, held by Rwanda-backed M23 rebels; South Kivu, controlled by the Alliance Fleuve Congo rebel group; and Ituri, where militia violence remains endemic.
Save the Children reported Wednesday that a quarter of the confirmed deaths are children, and called for a major scale-up of infection prevention measures. The U.N. refugee agency noted that reception sites in Uganda’s West Nile region, which borders Congo, are operating at more than double their intended capacity as families flee the violence.
Despite mediation efforts led by the United States and other powers, fighting in eastern Congo has intensified, displacing millions. Aid organizations are rushing staff and equipment to the outbreak zone, but they say attacks on health workers — driven by deep community distrust — are crippling the response. So far, donors have pledged roughly $500 million to combat the outbreak, but health officials say much of the money has yet to be disbursed.
On the ground, the resource gap is stark. A doctor in Boutembo, North Kivu, where six of seven confirmed Ebola patients have died, told Reuters that the local clinic has only two body bags left and is running out of basic protective gear.
“If there are more deaths I don’t know how we will manage,” the doctor said, speaking on condition of anonymity out of fear of repercussions. “We recently had to secure a body — we had no choice but to use our own money to buy a body bag.”
The doctor also reported critical shortages of soap, chlorine, boots, body suits, masks and gloves, and blamed foreign aid cuts to international and local NGOs for compounding the crisis. The outbreak now threatens to spiral into one of the deadliest in Congo’s history, with conflict and disease feeding each other in a cycle that experts say will require both a political truce and a massive health mobilization.