DR Congo’s geography, food insecurity continue to fuel Ebola outbreaks

A deadly Ebola outbreak is once again spreading through rural areas of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where a rare strain of the virus has already claimed more than 100 lives and triggered renewed international concern. The current outbreak marks the country’s 17th recorded Ebola wave, underscoring why the central African nation continues to be one of the world’s most vulnerable hotspots for the disease.

This outbreak is being driven by the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, a relatively rare variant that poses an additional challenge because — unlike the more common Zaire strain — it currently has no approved vaccines or treatments, as CNN reports.

The DRC has experienced devastating Ebola outbreaks before. Between 2018 and 2020, the country suffered its deadliest epidemic, which killed 2,299 people.

The virus was first identified in the DRC in 1976 and has remained a recurring threat ever since. Once Ebola enters a community, it can spread rapidly through direct contact with bodily fluids or contaminated surfaces. The virus causes severe symptoms, including high fever and internal and external bleeding, and is often fatal.

According to the World Health Organization, Ebola originates in wildlife and is transmitted to humans through close contact with infected forest animals such as fruit bats, porcupines, and non-human primates including monkeys.

Ebola's devastating grip on Congo

Scientists believe Ebola first crossed into humans through the hunting, handling, or consumption of infected wild animals — commonly referred to as bushmeat.

Bushmeat remains widely consumed in the DRC, particularly bats, monkeys, antelopes, and grasscutters, making the risk of animal-to-human transmission an ongoing problem.

Geography also plays a major role in the country’s repeated outbreaks. Dense tropical forests cover more than 60% of the DRC’s territory, creating an ideal environment for Ebola to persist in wildlife populations.

In many parts of the Congo Basin — the world’s second-largest rainforest — bushmeat is not simply a cultural preference but a critical food source. In some rural communities, wild meat provides up to 80% of protein intake.

That dependence creates frequent opportunities for dangerous viruses to jump from animals to humans.

Eteni Longondo, the DRC’s former public health minister, told CNN that regulating hunting practices across the country’s vast forests remains extremely difficult.

“It starts from the forest, and we don’t have any control there,” he said, adding that deeply rooted hunting traditions cannot be changed quickly.

The outbreak is also unfolding against the backdrop of severe poverty and conflict. Although the DRC is rich in mineral resources, more than 80% of its roughly 100 million people live in extreme poverty.

Conditions are especially dire in eastern Congo, where armed rebel groups have seized large territories, displaced millions of people, and worsened an already severe food crisis.

The outbreak has now spread beyond the DRC’s borders. Neighbouring Uganda has confirmed two laboratory-verified Ebola cases, including one death, in the capital city of Kampala.

According to the WHO, the two infected individuals had travelled separately from the DRC and were not linked to one another.

Health officials also believe certain funeral customs may be contributing to transmission. In some communities, mourners traditionally touch or wash the bodies of the deceased, practices that can significantly increase the spread of Ebola during outbreaks.

By Nazrin Sadigova