Ebola outbreak in Congo strains hospitals as protective gear runs out

Health workers in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo are running short of the most basic tools needed to fight Ebola, from gloves and gowns to boots, masks and chlorine. In North Kivu, medics were close to exhausting chlorine and often lacked boots, while one suspected Ebola victim had to be wrapped in a blue tarpaulin and carried on a taxi roof because there was no body bag or ambulance available.

The shortages have turned Ebola containment into a logistics and governance problem as much as a medical one. Aid officials and doctors said reduced pre-positioned stocks, transport bottlenecks and wider aid cuts have pushed up the price of protective gear just as the outbreak spread across multiple health zones. The International Rescue Committee warned that essential supplies were expected to run out within days, and Reuters reported that the cost of high-protection suits had risen 40% since last month to about $35.

The outbreak, officially declared in the DRC on 15 May 2026, is now the largest Bundibugyo outbreak on record, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The World Health Organization says it is affecting both Congo and Uganda, with no vaccine or specific treatment for this strain, though candidates are being tested. By 10 June, Congo’s health ministry had reported 598 confirmed cases and 115 confirmed deaths, with 297 people hospitalized in isolation. The WHO’s June 6 situation report had put the totals at 515 confirmed cases and 91 deaths in Congo, plus 19 confirmed cases in Uganda.

Frontline workers have already paid a heavy price. Reuters reported that 34 healthcare workers had been infected and seven had died just over three weeks after the WHO declared an international emergency. The outbreak first emerged among clusters of healthcare workers, a warning that lapses in protection can seed wider transmission inside the very facilities meant to stop it.

The response now depends on whether money can reach the field faster than the virus moves. WHO and Africa CDC launched a six-month plan on 5 June seeking $518 million, while Africa CDC said the regional preparedness and response plan needs at least $319 million between June and November. WHO has said the outbreak is unfolding amid humanitarian crisis, insecurity and difficult access, conditions that make trust, testing and surveillance harder even as the risk of spread beyond eastern Congo rises.