The latest outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has spread with terrifying speed as hundreds of cases and dozens of deaths were reported in just one week in June. With more than 1,000 confirmed cases, the outbreak is now the second largest on record.
The disease is concentrated primarily in the northeastern province of Ituri, and cases also have been found in North Kivu and South Kivu — all in the far reaches of eastern DRC, where terrorists and armed groups make the response to a health emergency even more challenging.
But the DRC previously has managed at least 17 separate Ebola outbreaks, which represent the vast majority of all known reports since the virus first was identified near the Ebola River in 1976. Congolese doctors, scientists and field workers have frontline experience in treating the virus and contact tracing.
Bruno Michon, who oversees the Red Cross’ response to the outbreak in the DRC, said that engaging with and gaining the trust of communities is critical to containing the spread of the disease.
“There is no shortcut to ending an Ebola outbreak,” he said in a June 18 statement. “Communities need trusted information, opportunities to ask questions and genuine engagement. People are more likely to seek care, report symptoms and accept public health measures when they feel heard and respected.”
The World Health Organization (WHO) noted several takeaways from an Ebola outbreak in the DRC’s Kasai Province that began in September 2025 and was quickly contained with the discharge of the final patient two months later.
“The response adopted a comprehensive Community Protection approach that addressed both epidemiological risks and the social conditions that influence whether public health measures succeed,” the WHO said in a June 12, 2026.
Local engagement and protection teams deployed to Kasai early, allowing residents to voice concerns, ask questions and get accurate information. Meetings and dialogues helped identify trusted local actors who played a vital role in building confidence, addressing rumors and encouraging early treatment.
“Their presence, alongside response teams, helped stabilize communities during a decisive phase of the outbreak and strengthened public confidence in response efforts,” the WHO said.
Officials gathered community feedback through youth forums, women’s groups, radio call-in programs and telephone hotlines. Those inputs, along with real-time data, allowed daily coordination meetings to take actions such as increasing access to vaccination and addressing fears surrounding treatment and safe, dignified burials.
Past outbreaks also have shown that social support measures such as food aid and home-based care can be more effective than coercive containment measures. Humanitarian organization Human Rights Watch said that in November 2025, emergency levels of acute malnutrition were recorded in parts of Ituri and North Kivu, affecting nearly 25 million people.
“People are more likely to comply with voluntary quarantine if they have adequate food,” HRW said. “When treatment centers cannot provide basic sustenance, family members risk exposure by bringing food themselves.”
HRW Crisis and Conflict director Ida Sawyer said that the country’s largest Ebola outbreak, from 2018 to 2020, likely was prolonged by the involvement of Congolese security forces, which hindered the health response and deepened community mistrust.
“The Congolese government and its partners need to overcome years of conflict, abuse, and neglect that have strained healthcare systems and eroded trust and that risk complicating the Ebola response,” she said. “That means taking all necessary steps to minimize the role of security forces and closely engaging with affected communities.”
