Responding to Ebola in Eastern DRC

First confirmed in Ituri Province in mid-May 2026, it is the 17th outbreak in the DRC since 1976 and arrived barely five months after the previous one was declared over. According to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, at least 1,077 suspected cases and 246 suspected deaths had been recorded since late May, and health officials warn the true scale is almost certainly larger. On May 17, the WHO declared the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.

This outbreak is especially dangerous. It is caused by the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, for which there is no approved vaccine and no specific treatment, and it is spreading through a region already gripped by armed conflict, mass displacement, and severe hunger — with nearly 10 million people across eastern provinces facing acute food insecurity.

On the Ground has launched an emergency response alongside our partners at the Muungano Cooperative. A $10,000 grant from the Cooperative Coffees Emergency Fund is deploying hand-washing stations, disinfectant, masks, thermometers, awareness posters and precaution training across 10 coffee washing stations, 15 schools and 10 churches in our producer partners' communities — support an estimated 300,000 people are benefiting from in the fight against Ebola's spread. The need is far greater than one grant can meet: keeping those stations stocked, sustaining community education, and reaching new washing stations, schools and churches as the outbreak spreads all depend on donations.