Why Ebola keeps returning to DRC: A heartbreaking human toll

Families in Mongbwalu grieve as Ebola returns, exposing serious gaps in healthcare and outbreak preparedness. Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo – Sadiki Patrick, 40, is still grappling with the loss of his 15-year-old daughter, Judith, in Mongbwalu, a mining town in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Judith is one of the latest victims of Ebola as the country battles yet another outbreak, the seventeenth in just 50 years. “It is heartbreaking to lose my third child in the prime of her youth,” Patrick, whose name has been changed to protect his identity, told Al Jazeera. “I sent her to school so that she could be educated and become a valuable member of society. Now, she is a thing of the past,” he said, his voice heavy with sorrow. He described the situation in Mongbwalu as dire, accusing authorities of failing to act quickly enough to contain the outbreak before it had spread. According to Congolese authorities, Mongbwalu is where the first cases of the new Ebola outbreak were reported. Residents describe daily deaths in the village, while local health services struggle to respond. The recurring epidemics in the DRC highlight how fragile healthcare systems, poverty, and ongoing conflict leave communities especially vulnerable to deadly diseases. Why Ebola keeps returning Francine Mbona Pendeza, a Congolese doctor who helped fight Ebola in the North Kivu province between 2018 and 2020, said that unsafe food practices, limited access to clean water, and weaknesses in the healthcare system are a major factor in the repeated epidemics. “Our people are used to eating raw or undercooked food. We grill meat that isn’t cooked through, which allows germs to thrive and causes outbreaks. Another factor is access to clean water, which is dire in the DRC,” she told Al Jazeera. She added that hospitals in remote areas are difficult to reach. “To find a hospital, especially in remote areas, you have to travel many kilometres. And sometimes, you might reach a hospital only to find unqualified staff.” Congolese authorities insist that teams are working hard to contain this strain of Ebola. The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) announced on Tuesday that its team of experts had arrived in Bunia, the capital of Ituri province, to “strengthen the response to the ongoing Ebola epidemic.” The team includes field epidemiologists, as well as specialists in data collection, risk communication, and community mobilisation. The DRC has seen an average of one Ebola outbreak every three years. The tenth outbreak, of the Zaire strain, devastated North Kivu and Ituri between 2018 and 2020, killing more than 2,300 people. Gaps in healthcare access For Dr Mbona, the lack of easy access to quality healthcare lies at the heart of the resurgence of epidemics in the DRC. “If a person is ill and cannot find treatment, they can easily infect others. Elsewhere, medical care is free. Here, everything costs money. Someone who has no money has no access to care, and may end up infecting others while lying in bed,” she said. In December 2025, the DRC announced the end of its sixteenth Ebola outbreak in the Bulape region, deep in Congolese territory. Forty days ago, authorities had also declared the mpox outbreak over across the country. Yet, health officials warned that vigilance remains crucial in case of potential resurgences. Rodriguez Kisando, a doctor specialising in environmental health, also believes that the failure of the healthcare system makes the DRC a breeding ground for epidemics. “It is developing very good health policies, structural preventive policies that involve ongoing education of the population regarding habits that help prevent epidemic diseases,” he said. Given the country’s vast size, he argued, the DRC should bring healthcare facilities closer to the people to improve access to primary care. Poverty and a limited availability of medicines make this urgent, he said. “We are in a country where health insurance is rare. We also need a proactive health communication strategy, not one that merely reacts to epidemics. Communication should be preventive and widespread. We also need technology,” Kisando emphasised. According to the latest data from the Congolese Ministry of Health, more than 500 suspected Ebola cases have already been recorded, with more than 130 deaths. Sadiki Patrick can hardly believe what happened to his daughter. She had shown symptoms of malaria in April, and was initially treated at home. She was taken to hospital when her condition worsened. “Unfortunately, it was too late,” he recalled. “Two days after being admitted to hospital, she passed away. Because we couldn’t afford it, she had to be treated at home.” Patrick and his family have tested negative for Ebola. ‘Natural habitat’ for pathogens Alphonsine Muhoza, a Congolese doctor, said the rise in epidemics in the DRC was due to a complex mix of environmental, biological, socioeconomic, and structural factors th