Story perspectives

150+ Ebola Patients Flee Congo Clinics Over Food Shortage

6/19/2026

Summary

Patients Flee

More than 150 Ebola patients have fled treatment centers in the Democratic Republic of Congo, including 11 who left a Bambu hospital near Mongbwalu because they lack food.
The outbreak has infected nearly 900 people, killed more than a quarter, and prompted officials to track about 6,400 possible exposures.
World Food Programme (WFP) delivered 590 hot meals in one day and seeks $175 million through November, including $32 million for Ebola.

Summary

Samaritan’s Purse Opens

Samaritan’s Purse opened two 40-bed Ebola Treatment Centers in Bunia and Nyankunde, adding capacity to Ituri Province where nearly 90 percent of cases reside.
The centers, opened this week, are at near full occupancy while hundreds of cases and over 200 deaths have occurred since early May.
Seventy Disaster Assistance Response Team members have installed over 120 handwashing stations, supplied PPE to partner hospitals, and airlifted tons of resources.

Summary

WHO Declares Emergency

WHO declared the eastern D R Congo Ebola outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on 17 May 2026.
The virus has begun crossing the border into Uganda, expanding the crisis’s geographic scope.
Chronic aid cuts, deepening inequality, armed conflict and severe hunger have eroded D R Congo’s capacity to detect and contain cases.
Funding shortfalls have forced facility closures, created medicine shortages and sharply reduced health and surveillance services.

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Patients Flee

More than 150 Ebola patients have fled treatment centers in the Democratic Republic of Congo, including 11 who left a Bambu hospital near Mongbwalu because they lack food.
The outbreak has infected nearly 900 people, killed more than a quarter, and prompted officials to track about 6,400 possible exposures.
World Food Programme (WFP) delivered 590 hot meals in one day and seeks $175 million through November, including $32 million for Ebola.

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