Ebola in DRC: on 15 July 2026, exactly two months after the 17th Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo was officially declared, RFI reviewed the state of the response. The outlet interviewed Rodrigue Alitanou, Director of Operations at ALIMA (The Alliance for International Medical Action).
Declared on 15 May 2026, the outbreak is centred in Ituri province, in the east of the country. It is caused by the Bundibugyo virus, for which there is still no validated treatment or vaccine. According to RFI, within two months it had passed half the number of cases recorded during the 2018–2020 outbreak, which lasted almost two years. Its peak had not yet been reached.
For Rodrigue Alitanou, this is not an admission of failure. He describes a balance of power that has never shifted since May. He calls for national coordination able to act at the same time in areas already affected and in those not yet reached.
“The epidemic is moving faster than the response.” (Rodrigue Alitanou, Director of Operations, ALIMA. Translated from French.)
📰 Read the article on RFI
