At least 30 people have died since early May at the Kigonze displacement camp in Bunia, in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, in what camp officials call an unprecedented crisis. Some victims were diagnosed with Ebola, and the pattern of deaths has raised fears that the disease is spreading quickly in the crowded camp of more than 15,000 residents in one of the country’s Ebola hotspots.
Until recently, sick residents and their families often refused to let medical teams examine the bodies, making it difficult to determine the causes of death. Camp spokesman Desire Grudia Bapi said all the victims had symptoms linked to Ebola, including headache, fever and vomiting. “People simply did not die like this before,” he told Reuters. Camp president Djedjo Ndrutsi Etienne said 10 people were buried in the past week alone, while Grudia said the camp normally records just one to three deaths a month.
Justin Zanamodzi, head of the Catholic aid group Caritas, said his team found several bodies covered with sheets on Wednesday, including a pregnant woman and children. Reuters-verified footage from Thursday showed health workers in protective suits disinfecting bodies and preparing small coffins beside a cross, while relatives mourned nearby. Zanamodzi said attempts by aid workers to persuade residents to allow doctors to examine the corpses were met with outright refusal.
The Ebola outbreak was officially declared in Congo on May 15, though authorities say deaths began earlier. Grudia said samples from five victims were sent for testing, and some came back positive for Ebola. Three aid officials also said tests from some of the recent dead were positive, without giving a total. Aid groups say the crisis reflects growing vulnerability in displacement camps as funding for water, hygiene and sanitation has been cut, with UN data showing support for those services in Congo fell by more than half between 2024 and 2025 to about $38 million, and only 21% of this year’s requested $80 million has been raised so far. The camp’s poor conditions include overcrowded plastic tents, children walking barefoot, and toilets that overflow because there are too few of them, forcing residents to empty pits by hand.
