{"id":1687,"date":"2026-05-24T19:44:54","date_gmt":"2026-05-24T19:44:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cnnglobalnews.com\/2026\/05\/24\/number-of-suspected-ebola-cases-in-dr-congo-passes-900-as-health-workers-face-attacks-and-shortages\/"},"modified":"2026-05-24T19:44:54","modified_gmt":"2026-05-24T19:44:54","slug":"number-of-suspected-ebola-cases-in-dr-congo-passes-900-as-health-workers-face-attacks-and-shortages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cnnglobalnews.com\/?p=1687","title":{"rendered":"Number of suspected Ebola cases in DR Congo passes 900 as health workers face attacks and shortages"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"border-color:var(--article-border);background-color:var(--article-inner-background)\" class=\"dcr-wqti5a\">\n<div class=\"dcr-2zxs1v\">\n<div style=\"--grid-area:media\" data-gu-name=\"media\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-14emo0l\">\n<div class=\"dcr-tr9ye5\">\n<figure id=\"120a5887-f6df-41f4-b618-12bc5b53ff5a\" class=\"dcr-142siv7\">\n<div id=\"img-1\" class=\"dcr-1t8m8f2\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A medical worker in blue protective clothing and orange gloves gestures outward in a rural village setting\" src=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/8355603236b6205fbdf5131669437d4b19be02f9\/430_0_3768_3016\/master\/3768.jpg?width=465&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" width=\"465\" height=\"372.19745222929936\" loading=\"eager\" class=\"dcr-evn1e9\"><span class=\"dcr-v822l1\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-gup2gr\">\n<div class=\"dcr-fntg6k\"><label for=\"the-checkbox\" class=\"dcr-1xgwz8b\"><\/label> <\/p>\n<div id=\"the-caption\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-1os51wo\"><span class=\"dcr-hvsf4t\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">A medical worker directs motorists to a screening checkpoint as aid agencies intensify efforts to contain the outbreak.<\/span> Photograph: Gradel Muyisa Mumbere\/Reuters<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><a href=\"#img-1\" data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-13fd1ms\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><button data-element-id=\"120a5887-f6df-41f4-b618-12bc5b53ff5a\" type=\"button\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-4tmywn\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><span class=\"dcr-194i6pr\">View image in fullscreen<\/span><\/button><\/a><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"dcr-n4pnam\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-1hdkqum\"><span class=\"dcr-hvsf4t\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">A medical worker directs motorists to a screening checkpoint as aid agencies intensify efforts to contain the outbreak.<\/span> Photograph: Gradel Muyisa Mumbere\/Reuters<\/figcaption><\/span><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:border\" data-gu-name=\"border\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:headline\" data-gu-name=\"headline\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-14emo0l\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1aqe7zu\">\n<h1 class=\"dcr-1k1a1x\">Number of suspected Ebola cases in DR Congo passes 900 as health workers face attacks and shortages<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:standfirst\" data-gu-name=\"standfirst\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-15in7js\">\n<p>World Health Organization says outbreak poses \u2018very high\u2019 risk for Congo, but risk of disease spreading globally remains low<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:body\" data-gu-name=\"body\" class=\"dcr-kn9unn\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1a4fred\">\n<div id=\"maincontent\" class=\"dcr-ydnaza\">\n<div class=\"article-body-commercial-selector article-body-viewer-selector dcr-1c9t5u6\">\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Congolese authorities say that suspected <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/ebola\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\">Ebola<\/a> cases have now passed 900 in the ongoing outbreak in the east of the country.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The Congolese ministry of communication, in a post on X on Sunday, said there were 904 suspected cases and 119 suspected deaths.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Authorities had previously announced more than 700 suspected Ebola cases, and more than 170 suspected deaths, mostly in Ituri province, where the outbreak is centred.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The World Health Organization has said the outbreak now poses a \u201cvery high\u201d risk for the Democratic Republic of Congo, but that the risk of the disease spreading globally remains low.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Health authorities in the country are facing serious challenges as they try to stem the outbreak, which has been declared a global health emergency.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">There have been arson attacks on Ebola treatment centres in the country\u2019s east \u2013 two centres in two towns were hit last week, exposing the anger in a region beset by violence linked to armed rebel groups, the displacement of a large number of people, the failure of local government and international aid cuts that experts say have stripped health facilities in vulnerable communities.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"06b4b474-dd55-4845-848e-d7460747711f\" data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.ImageBlockElement\" class=\"dcr-173mewl\">\n<div id=\"img-2\" class=\"dcr-1t8m8f2\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Health workers take part in the funeral of Ebola victims in Butembo, North Kivu province.\" src=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/efa97e44fa30ca6b7075a6909ba799c59f7b2ad7\/0_0_3500_2625\/master\/3500.jpg?width=445&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" width=\"445\" height=\"333.75\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"dcr-evn1e9\"><a href=\"#img-2\" data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-13fd1ms\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><button data-element-id=\"06b4b474-dd55-4845-848e-d7460747711f\" type=\"button\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-4tmywn\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><span class=\"dcr-194i6pr\">View image in fullscreen<\/span><\/button><\/a><\/div><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-fd61eq\"><span class=\"dcr-1inf02i\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">Health workers take part in the funeral of Ebola victims in Butembo, North Kivu province.<\/span> Photograph: Hugh Kinsella Cunningham\/EPA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Colin Thomas-Jensen, director of impact at the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative, said the attacks may reflect the \u201cbuilt-in skepticism and anger\u201d of people in eastern Congo over how the region has been treated, with years of violence from foreign-linked rebel groups and a failure of their government and international peacekeepers to protect them.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Another source of anger has been the strict protocols around the burial of suspected victims of Ebola, which authorities are taking charge of wherever they can to prevent further spread of the disease during traditional burials \u2013 where families prepare the bodies and people gather for a funeral.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The first burning of an Ebola centre in Rwampara was by a group of young men trying to retrieve a friend\u2019s body, according to witnesses and police. The witnesses said the crowd accused the foreign aid group operating there of lying about Ebola.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Authorities in north-eastern Congo have now banned funeral wakes and gatherings of more than 50 people, and armed soldiers and police are guarding some burials carried out by aid workers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Eastern Congo has for years seen attacks by dozens of separate rebel and militant groups, some of them with links to foreign countries or the extremist Islamic State group.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The Rwanda-backed M23 rebels are in control of parts of the region. While the Congolese government still largely controls the north-eastern Ituri province, which is the centre of the Ebola outbreak, its control is tenuous. The Allied Democratic Forces, a Ugandan Islamist group linked to Islamic State, is one of the dominant rebel groups there and is responsible for violent attacks against civilian targets.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Before the outbreak, Doctors Without Borders said in an assessment that the insecurity in Ituri had worsened recently, causing doctors and nurses to flee, leaving overwhelmed health facilities and, in some parts, \u201ccatastrophic conditions\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The UN humanitarian office says almost 1 million people have been displaced from their homes by conflict in Ituri.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"64344b83-3ff6-4252-90d8-3a9e4a63e596\" data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.ImageBlockElement\" class=\"dcr-173mewl\">\n<div id=\"img-3\" class=\"dcr-1t8m8f2\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Flames and smoke rise from an Ebola treatment centre in Rwampara.\" src=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/0c42f68b6ec9f74a8748fd4270e5211d48235b11\/0_0_6000_4000\/master\/6000.jpg?width=445&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" width=\"445\" height=\"296.66666666666663\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"dcr-evn1e9\"><a href=\"#img-3\" data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-13fd1ms\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><button data-element-id=\"64344b83-3ff6-4252-90d8-3a9e4a63e596\" type=\"button\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-4tmywn\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><span class=\"dcr-194i6pr\">View image in fullscreen<\/span><\/button><\/a><\/div><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-fd61eq\"><span class=\"dcr-1inf02i\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">Flames and smoke rise from an Ebola treatment centre in Rwampara.<\/span> Photograph: Dirole Lotsima Dieudonne\/AP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">It means the Ebola outbreak is \u201cunfolding in communities already facing insecurity, displacement and fragile healthcare systems,\u201d said Gabriela Arenas, a regional coordinator at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">There are concerns the disease might spread to the large displacement camps near the city of Bunia, where the first cases were reported.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Health experts say international aid cuts last year by the US and other rich nations were devastating for eastern Congo because of its multiple problems.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The cuts \u201creduced the capacity to detect and respond to infectious disease outbreaks\u201d, said Thomas McHale, public health director at Physicians for Human Rights. Congo has had more than a dozen previous Ebola outbreaks.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Aid groups fighting this outbreak on the ground say they don\u2019t have the equipment they need, such as face shields and suits to protect health workers from infection, testing kits, and body bags and other materials needed to safely bury the bodies of those who have died, which can be highly contagious.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cWe have made requests to different partners, but we have not yet really received anything,\u201d said Julienne Lusenge, president of Women\u2019s Solidarity for Inclusive Peace and Development, an aid group operating a small hospital near Bunia.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cWe only have hand sanitiser and a few masks for the nurses,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The Bundibugyo type of Ebola virus responsible for the outbreak has no approved vaccine or treatment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-print-layout=\"hide\" class=\"dcr-qxqnsy\"><span class=\"dcr-1rq3vad\">Explore more on these topics<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-1dzx48f\">\n<ul class=\"dcr-1rrvs2w\">\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/world\/ebola\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">Ebola<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/world\/congo\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">Democratic Republic of the Congo<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/world\/africa\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">Africa<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/global-development\/global-health\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">Global health<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/tone\/news\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">news<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dcr-nu129i\"><a href=\"mailto:?subject=Number%20of%20suspected%20Ebola%20cases%20in%20DR%20Congo%20passes%20900%20as%20health%20workers%20face%20attacks%20and%20shortages&amp;body=https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2026\/may\/24\/suspected-ebola-cases-congo-health-workers-attacks?CMP=share_btn_url\" class=\"dcr-125qj9d\">Share<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-zhx6xs\"><a data-link-name=\"meta-syndication-article\" href=\"https:\/\/syndication.theguardian.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fworld%2F2026%2Fmay%2F24%2Fsuspected-ebola-cases-congo-health-workers-attacks&amp;type=article&amp;internalpagecode=world\/2026\/may\/24\/suspected-ebola-cases-congo-health-workers-attacks\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\" title=\"Reuse this content\" class=\"dcr-14rjinq\">Reuse this content<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:right-column\" data-gu-name=\"right-column\" class=\"dcr-1h2hraq\">\n<div class=\"dcr-tn16h9\">\n<section class=\"dcr-1hko8ef\"><\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A medical worker directs motorists to a screening checkpoint as aid agencies intensify efforts to contain the outbreak. Photograph: Gradel Muyisa Mumbere\/Reuters View image in fullscreen A medical worker directs &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnnglobalnews.com\/?p=1687\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1688,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1687","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cnnglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1687","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cnnglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cnnglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cnnglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1687"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.cnnglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1687\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cnnglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1687"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cnnglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1687"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cnnglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1687"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}