Ebola outbreak disrupts daily life along the DRC-Uganda border
Across the border zone linking eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and western Uganda, the Ebola outbreak is disrupting trade, school attendance and crossings. Al Jazeera field reporting from Bunia, Beni and Mpondwe shows residents waiting hours at screening points, while WHO coordinator Yap Boum says the next four weeks are critical.
Reporting by Al Jazeera correspondent Charles Stratford from Bunia, Beni and the Mpondwe border crossing shows that the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo Ebola outbreak — which has reached 687 cases and 165 deaths since October — is now grinding daily life to a halt along the DRC-Uganda border. Temperature screening and travel-document checks at official crossings mean residents are waiting for hours, and more than half of the typical 12,000 weekly crossings have been disrupted.
Uganda Health Minister Jane Ruth Aceng said in Kampala that two suspected cases in western Uganda have been isolated but are not yet confirmed. WHO regional coordinator Yap Boum reminded reporters that the active strain is the Sudan strain, against which the Ervebo vaccine offers only partial protection, and said the Bunia field laboratory has scaled capacity to 240 samples a day. Africa CDC director Jean Kaseya said vaccine distribution in M23-controlled areas requires additional logistical corridors.
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni said 12 health staff have been posted along the border, while East African Community secretary-general Veronica Nduva announced that member states will discuss coordinated cross-border protocols in Arusha on 28 May. EU humanitarian aid commissioner Janez Lenarčič said an additional €75 million has been released ahead of the 28 June Geneva donor conference.
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