Ebola Spreads Through Congolese Displacement Camp as Aid Funding Shrinks

At least 30 people have died since the start of May in a displacement camp in Congo, and some of the victims were diagnosed with Ebola, raising fears of a fast-moving outbreak in crowded, unsanitary conditions. In Israel, there is also suspicion of the first case, according to the article. Reuters reported the outbreak is centered in the Kigonze camp in Bunia, one of the country’s Ebola hot spots, where more than 15,000 displaced people live.

Officials and aid workers fear the virus is spreading unnoticed among the wider displaced population in eastern Congo, which numbers more than five million. Resistance to testing, poor hygiene and a lack of adequate sanitation infrastructure are making it harder for authorities and aid groups to contain the disease. Congo formally declared an Ebola outbreak on May 15, but camp officials said deaths began earlier, at the beginning of the month.

The camp’s spokesman said medical workers took samples from five victims, and some tested positive for Ebola. Three aid sources also told Reuters that samples from some victims taken this week came back positive, though they did not say how many. The spokesman described dire sanitation conditions, saying large families live in cramped plastic tents less than a meter apart, children walk barefoot on dirt paths, and latrines are few and often overflow. He said, “The latrines fill up very quickly, and people are forced to empty them themselves, with bare hands.”

According to UN data cited by Reuters, funding for water, hygiene and sanitation in Congo fell by more than half between 2024 and 2025, to about $38 million. This year’s $80 million appeal is only 21% funded so far. Aid workers said the cuts, including by major donors such as the United States under the Trump administration, have hurt essential WASH projects. Reuters said it could not determine how much, if any, Washington is now giving the Kigonze camp. Mercy Corps, the Danish Refugee Council, CARE International and Oxfam said U.S.-funded water, hygiene and sanitation projects in Ebola-hit districts have been reduced or canceled since last year’s cuts. Mercy Corps said it installed 82 taps and more than 400 public toilets in 2024 for over 125,000 displaced people, but this year fewer than 19,000 people are served by just six taps, with no public toilets at all.