Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, June 4, 2026 – Despite cautious progress by a severely underfunded response to the escalating Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), it remains a race against time to reach women and girls already struggling to live in dignity amid an extreme crisis, while simultaneously supporting overstretched frontline health workers.
The outbreak, already the third largest on record, is driven by the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, for which no approved vaccine or treatment exists. Effective containment depends on rapid detection, infection prevention, and community trust, and any delay in funding may lead to significant loss of life.
Tibaleka Bamutana, a nurse at Shari Health Facility, Bunia said:
“Health facilities urgently need support. Sustained funding is essential to strengthen services and prevent further spread. Rumors and misinformation are also driving fear in communities already living under insecurity. These conditions can also trigger further spreading of the disease."
Healthcare workers are facing shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE), hygiene supplies, and diagnostic tools, significantly increasing their risk of infection and limiting their ability to respond effectively.
Dr. Amadou Bocoum, CARE DRC Country Director, said:
“With proper funding, we would have had prepositioned stock and begun distributing critical supplies like PPE from day one, but instead, we started with nothing and lost 10 days. When supplies take weeks to arrive from hubs like Nairobi and Kampala, the virus continues to spread. In hard-to-reach and insecure areas such as Djugu, Irumu, and Mambasa, ongoing conflict adds several days of overland transport through difficult terrain, further delaying lifesaving support to communities.”
Women account for over 60% of suspected Ebola cases in this outbreak, largely due to their roles as caregivers, food preparers, and active participants in traditional burial practices.
The outbreak is hitting communities already stretched to breaking point, where years of conflict, displacement, and underfunded health services have left people with few resources to cope with yet another crisis. Conflict is fueling a surge in gender-based violence, with sexual violence used as a weapon of war and support services collapsing.
Maternal healthcare is already severely strained, and pregnant and lactating women face particularly grave risks such as miscarriage, complications, and maternal death, and are often afraid to seek care or turned away due to infection fears.
For CARE DRC, aid cuts forced a 26% budget reduction and the loss of a third of its national staff including those responsible for community mobilization, health education, and Ebola prevention, impairing emergency logistics at the worst possible moment.
Border closures with neighboring countries are limiting case detection, and contact tracing, as movements increasingly occur through informal routes. Cross-border transmission has already been confirmed. Alongside the virus itself, a parallel epidemic of health misinformation fueled by rumors is severely undermining prevention efforts, delaying care-seeking, while weakening community cooperation.
Responders urgently require basic protective equipment, hygiene kits, and resources to combat misinformation.
Tina Flores, Executive Director of the Frontline Health Workers Coalition, a pioneering alliance of partners working in global health, said:
“Protecting health workers means protecting communities. Their safety is essential to an effective and sustained outbreak response.
“Doctors, nurses, community health workers, ambulance drivers, health educators, and countless others continue to work tirelessly to care for those affected while protecting communities from further spread.”
CARE is calling for a significant and immediate increase in financial and technical support to the aid response. We urge donors to immediately increase both the volume and the quality of humanitarian funding to enable organizations that are best placed, including local and women-led organizations, to reach people in need to do so rapidly and effectively.
Robyn Savage, CARE Roving Humanitarian Director, said:
“Global health security is not a game of solitaire. Frontline workers cannot stop this virus alone without the tools they need and without coordinated global action, communities will pay the price. Without urgent funding, lives will be lost.”
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Notes to Editors
CARE has been working in the DRC since 1994, initially responding to the massive refugee crisis in the east. Today, CARE DRC operates in several provinces, including Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu, providing life-saving humanitarian assistance and long-term development programs.
- In Ituri, eastern DRC, CARE is actively mobilizing both material resources and local communities to contain the virus, alongside the distribution of hygiene kits to 20,000 households to improve sanitation and protect basic dignity.
- CARE is partnering directly with local leaders, women’s networks, and community volunteers, to dispel rumors, restore trust, and equip communities with the factual information needed to identify symptoms and seek care early.
- Due to funding shortfalls, 1.5 million people have lost access to primary healthcare, with 1,000 nutrition centers closing, medicine shortages, and reduced outbreak response capacity. CARE’s Ebola response covers 22 health areas, each serving approximately 10,000 people.
- CARE is seeking funding of US$6 million over nine months to scale up its response. This funding will bolster infection prevention and control in 50 priority health facilities across high-risk areas, train health workers, and strengthen surveillance in 12 high-risk health zones. Furthermore, it will support 20,000 households with immediate hygiene supplies.
- A $30 hygiene kit, including soap, chlorine, buckets, handwashing supplies, masks and basic protective items, can help protect an entire household and drastically reduce the spread of infection.
