B2 DAILY STORY

Health 15 Jun 2026

Inside Ebola country: NPR reports from eastern DR Congo's outbreak zone

In eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, an Ebola outbreak is reshaping life, with fear spreading faster than information and hospitals turning into places of urgent containment rather than care.

5 min read B2

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Eliezer Kasongo, president of REMEDE Bunia, raises awareness among residents about Ebola prevention measures during a community outreach event on Ebola Awareness Day in Bunia, Ituri Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Arsène Mpiana Monkwe for NPR BUNIA, Democratic Republic of Congo — Eliezer Kasongo thought the Ebola epidemic would blow over in a few weeks. "We started to see people die in the neighbourhood and we began to understand," said Kasongo, a community volunteer in Bunia, the capital of Ituri province, in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Ituri is the epicenter of Congo's Ebola outbreak, which the government declared officially on May 15. Official figures show there are now 782 confirmed Ebola cases in eastern Congo as of June 13, and 181 confirmed deaths. Those numbers are an underestimate, according to health and aid officials, who point to testing delays as well as unnoticed deaths in villages and far-flung suburbs. A nurse accompanies a patient inside an isolation unit at the Rwampara Ebola Treatment Center, where Ebola patients are being treated, in Ituri Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo, June 14, 2026.

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Inside Ebola country: NPR reports from eastern DR Congo's outbreak zone

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