Ebola outbreak at Congo orphanage kills babies in Ituri province

The Ebola outbreak in Ituri province tore into one of the region’s most fragile settings first: a church-run orphanage in Bunia, where a newborn arrived after her mother died and within days became ill. At Saint Nicholas Orphanage, at least two babies died and 69 children were being cared for as health teams tried to stop the virus from moving through a place built on close, constant contact.

The infant, Buswaza, was brought to the orphanage in late May after her mother died. She developed a fever within days and later died of Ebola. After her death, six other babies at the orphanage were identified as suspected Ebola cases, underscoring how quickly the virus can move through a crowded care setting where infants cannot isolate themselves and caregivers must provide hands-on support.

Five of those six suspected cases later tested negative and were discharged from an isolation tent at the Evangelical Medical Centre. One remained under care. Health officials have also reported infections among adults who worked with the children, including three caregivers at the orphanage and a nun, showing how the danger extends to the people who keep such facilities running when there are no easy alternatives for feeding, soothing and cleaning babies at risk.

The wider outbreak was first flagged on May 5, when the World Health Organization was alerted to a high-mortality illness of unknown cause in Mongbwalu Health Zone. The agency later identified it as Ebola disease caused by the Bundibugyo virus. By June 6, WHO said the Democratic Republic of Congo had reported 515 confirmed cases and 91 deaths. By June 10, the health ministry put the count at 676 confirmed cases and 136 confirmed deaths. WHO said the outbreak had spread beyond Ituri into other eastern provinces and into Uganda.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said no Ebola cases had been confirmed in the United States and that the risk to the American public and travelers remained low. In eastern Congo, however, the threat has been magnified by insecurity that aid groups and United Nations officials say is complicating contact tracing, laboratory testing and treatment.

That combination of conflict, limited access and crowded institutional care leaves children exposed first and hardest. In Bunia, the orphanage cluster has become a stark measure of what happens when outbreak response meets a system already strained by displacement, malnutrition and the absence of safe buffers for the youngest children.