Samaritan's Purse to open Ebola treatment centre in eastern Congo

Samaritan’s Purse plans to open a 50-bed Ebola treatment centre in Bunia within a week, a rapid move that underscores how thin the outbreak response capacity remains in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Franklin Graham said the group is relying on Bunia’s relative security to protect staff and patients, even as health workers try to contain the rare Bundibugyo strain in a region already strained by conflict, distrust and supply shortages.

The urgency is stark. The World Health Organization declared the DRC-Uganda outbreak a public health emergency of international concern on May 17, and Africa CDC followed on May 18 by declaring it a Public Health Emergency of Continental Security. The Ministry of Health of the Democratic Republic of the Congo said on May 15 that the outbreak had reached 8 laboratory-confirmed cases, 246 suspected cases and more than 65 suspected deaths in Ituri province. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the next day that 246 suspected cases and 80 deaths had been reported. UNICEF’s May 26 update said the outbreak remained active in both Congo and Uganda.

The outbreak began in Mongbwalu, then spread to Bunia and Rwampara, and investigators traced one early chain of transmission to the first known case in the current outbreak, who died in Bunia on April 24. His body was later returned to Mongbwalu for a funeral, where mourners reportedly touched him, helping the virus move through the community. Public-health officials say there is no approved vaccine or treatment for the Bundibugyo strain, making isolation, safe burials and rapid case detection the main tools available.

The response has also been complicated by violence and mistrust. In Rwampara, protesters set fire to Ebola patient tents after a burial dispute over the body of a suspected Ebola victim. Police fired tear gas and warning shots after the confrontation, and the burned site had two tents fitted with eight beds and was run by ALIMA. The episode showed how quickly anger over burials can destroy fragile treatment capacity and push health workers further behind the virus.

Samaritan’s Purse said it airlifted an Ebola Treatment Centre and personal protective equipment on its 767 cargo plane on May 24, and its initial deployment included an outbreak specialist, an infection prevention and control specialist, an engineer and medical personnel. Graham described the facility as more than a clinic, calling it “a small town” because it must include generators, air conditioning, protective equipment and the logistics needed to keep patients and staff safe. The organization says it established an Ebola Treatment Center in Congo in 2018 and cared for more than 600 patients then, a reminder that emergency aid can save lives fast, even as the region still waits for the durable public-health infrastructure needed to stop the next outbreak before it starts.