The Democratic Republic of the Congo now has more than 780 confirmed cases and 180 deaths, while Uganda has recorded 19 confirmed cases, including two deaths.
On the ground, the response has expanded considerably. There are currently about 400 beds available and four laboratories in operation.
Only two of them can process close to 1,000 samples a day. However, despite this expansion, the World Health Organization (WHO) believes that efforts remain far below those necessary to control the outbreak.
“On a scale of zero to ten, compared to where this response needs to be, I would say we are at about a three or four,” said Dr. Rose Belizaire, WHO’s emergency response leader in Africa, in an interview with PakGazette. “The outbreak is evolving rapidly and all partners… must intensify their efforts on the ground to keep pace with the evolution of this epidemic.”
One month into the response to the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, diagnostic capacity has expanded dramatically. There are currently four operational laboratories in the affected health areas and only two of them can process close to 1,000 samples per year.
Eleven pillars
Nowadays, when a person is reported as a suspected case in a community, an investigation team is immediately dispatched. If the alert is confirmed, the patient is referred to a transit center, where they await laboratory results before being transferred, if necessary, to a treatment center.
But the response to Ebola goes far beyond medical care.
“The response is organized around 11 pillars in the field,” explained Dr. Belizaire.
Community surveillance, research teams, transit centers for people awaiting diagnosis, laboratories, treatment centers, infection prevention and control, and data management are among the many components mobilized under the leadership of the Congolese health authorities.
The response also includes extensive support for patients, their families and those exposed to the virus.
“We now have psychosocial support and nutritional support that provides assistance to confirmed patients, their families and the contacts we are monitoring, so that we can take a holistic approach to this outbreak,” the WHO official said.
In practice, this approach takes very specific forms.
“Contacts receive food rations,” said the epidemiologist. As for hospitalized patients, “they receive three hot meals a day.”
The response also includes infection prevention and control measures aimed at limiting transmission.
“This includes disinfection and destruction of items contaminated by the virus,” Dr. Belizaire said. “It’s a whole machinery that has to be put in place.”
Medical supplies are incinerated as part of the Ebola response in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.
We have the experience, the resources must follow
During a recent visit to Beni, one of the areas hardest hit by the outbreak, Dr. Belizaire said she was surprised by the level of preparedness of local teams.
“I was very satisfied with their technical ability to implement the response. They know what needs to be done. They also have the technical expertise,” she said.
However, what they lack are the resources necessary to match their capabilities.
“What they really lacked was the means. They lacked human resources and also the logistical support necessary to implement a robust response.”
Women on the front line
The outbreak is also evolving demographically.
At the beginning of the outbreak, men between the ages of 20 and 49 were the most affected group. Today, women represent the most affected category, while cases among children are increasing.
For Dr. Belizaire, this change is not surprising.
“In infectious disease outbreaks, women are usually the most affected. They are the ones who take care of family members, their husbands, their parents and their children.”
A listening response
For WHO, adapting the response to the realities on the ground has become an essential part of the fight against Ebola.
“We are trying to meet with all segments of the population to understand their needs and adapt the response to their reality,” explained Dr. Belizaire.
During her travels, the WHO official said she met with a wide range of groups, including women, local businesspeople, motorcycle taxi drivers and community leaders.
Concerns vary from group to group. Business owners worry about the impact of the outbreak on their ability to earn a living, while motorcycle taxi drivers, who provide much of the transportation in affected areas, are among the most exposed.
“An outbreak always occurs in a specific context. Therefore, we have to adapt the response to the real needs of the communities and the realities of their movements.”
Refugee families in an internally displaced persons camp in Ituri province in September 2025 (archive).
A porous border
This reality is particularly evident in the border region between Aru in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Arua in Uganda, where Dr. Belizaire participated last weekend in meetings that strengthened cooperation between the two countries and helped define a common action plan.
“When you look at the border, you don’t really see a dividing line or a difference between populations,” he said. “The names are almost identical: Aru and Arua. This is because the same populations live there and speak the same local language.”
“Interactions are extremely intense, whether commercial, family or simply human exchanges,” he added.
Therefore, the two countries have agreed to deploy joint teams along the border, strengthen laboratory capacity and establish a treatment center jointly managed by Congolese and Ugandan teams.
The goal is also to bring care closer to populations living on the Congolese side to reduce the need to travel to Uganda to seek treatment.
‘I wanted to thank you’
Over the past month, Dr. Belizaire’s long days have been filled with coordination meetings, field visits, and discussions with affected communities. They have also been marked by memorable encounters, and this week was no exception.
“While I was in a meeting, there was someone who was determined to see me at all costs,” he recalled.
When she finally went to see him, she discovered that he was a colleague from the WHO. After exchanging some greetings, he asked:
“But doctor, don’t you recognize me?”
She didn’t do it. He then explained why he had been so eager to meet her.
“I wanted to thank you. Thank you for saving my life. You are one of the people whose actions made it possible for me to be alive today.”
The man is a survivor of a previous Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Today he works as an epidemiologist for the WHO.
He also reminded him that he had been among the first people to raise the alarm during the current outbreak after a pastor informed him that a body had been bleeding from the nose and mouth during a funeral in Aru.
For Dr. Belizaire, the meeting illustrates how the experience gained in successive outbreaks continues to strengthen the current response.
“This may be my best paycheck this week,” he said. “Seeing people whose lives we helped save become my colleagues and work in the same organization as me.”
