Description: Africa’s Centre for Disease and Control Prevention warned that the Ebola outbreak in eastern DRC is threatening to spread on a scale never seen before. The African CDC also stated that large portions of the population in the North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri haven’t been properly tested and threated, while the ongoing conflict between the government and the M23 rebel alliance has made things much more difficult. So far, more than 840 cases have been confirmed with 200 deaths as the disease has proven to be difficult to track while factors such as illegal mining activities, disobedient and uninformed population have raised the risk of further infection. The World Health Organization (WHO) has dedicated approximately $3.9 million to tackle the crisis, supported by the African CDC, which declared a budget of $319 million.
Impact: Much of the territory in the eastern DRC including the provinces with most confirmed Ebola cases are controlled by the M23 rebel alliance, which highly indicates that the insurgent group is weaponizing the healthcare crisis against the government. Non – existent healthcare stations, desperate conditions in hospitals and rural infrastructure are all likely contributing towards the rapid spread of the disease, while the population’s susceptance to misinformation and disinformation is further disabling the healthcare and civil response to the crisis. The conditions are set to continue downgrading, however, further spread of the disease on a large – scale to neighboring countries or the region is currently unlikely.