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Ending the tenth Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) means searching, sometimes at extraordinary lengths, for people who possibly may have been infected by someone they know but are afraid to be treated. Some people have taken to hiding in the forests; some keep moving to evade the health workers and World Health Organization (WHO) contact tracing teams, like NAME NAME above, trained to search for people who came into contact unknowingly with a person infected with the virus. The point is to monitor their health condition and get them the medical care they need as quickly as possible if symptoms should occur.

Kitatumba Reference Hospital nestles on a hill in Butembo, which has been fighting an Ebola outbreak for the past year. With more than 80 health workers infected with Ebola since the outbreak came to the city in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, health facilities like Kitatumba are critical battle fronts. “This hospital was built in 1923, and many of the buildings are old, which makes it a challenge to maintain infection prevention and control standards,” says Dr Eugene Syalita Nzanzu, the Medical Director.

As recently as 15 years ago, there was a sense of hopelessness for people living with HIV in Nigeria. Today, their lives are filled with countless tomorrows. 

Lilongwe 24 April 2019 - The torrential rains did not stop for three days and nights. It was on the fourth night that the walls gave way from the mud brick house that Eunice Sopo and her three children called home.

Parts of Mozambique and eastern Zimbabwe had been swept away before Cyclone Idai’s torrential rains hit Malawi, creating extraordinary flood conditions that swept away homes, crops and lives. At least 60 people died and approximately 87,000 have been displaced (source, OCHA).

As the third largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Goma has more than 1 million people. It’s located on the shores of Lake Kivu in the Eastern part of the DRC, where Ebola has affected communities in North Kivu province (Butembo, Beni and Katwa). Alongside the Government, WHO and partners are jointly preparing Goma for any possible Ebola outbreak. They aim to protect Goma by stopping any spread of the virus.

Close to the border with the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where an Ebola outbreak continues, more than 100 community health volunteers in Cibitoke District, Burundi are having one of the more important discussions of their working lives: Dr Belyse Ndayimirije, a health promotion officer with the World Health Organization (WHO), advises them on how to prevent, detect and report suspected cases of the Ebola virus disease.