Each time we travel to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), we go first to listen. In Bunia, we have met dozens of community representatives: survivors, women, young people, local organisations, health workers and leaders from affected areas.
Their message was direct: involve us. We know our communities. We know where families seek care, how information moves and why trust is breaking down. Give us the means to help drive the response. They were right.
Ebola spreads through communities – and communities hold the knowledge required to stop it.
They can identify illness early, alert health teams, help trace contacts, challenge dangerous rumours and support families through treatment and safe, dignified burials. The response will move faster when communities lead alongside national authorities and health workers.
Dr Jean Kaseya, head of the Africa CDC. Photograph: AFP/Getty
The government of the DRC declared its 17th Ebola outbreak 100 days ago after confirmation of the Bundibugyo virus.
The outbreak has since become the deadliest ever recorded, with about 2,500 deaths.
Behind this unprecedented toll are families grieving and communities confronting Ebola alongside conflict, displacement and fragile access to care.
At the centre of it all are the people who show up every day. Health workers care for patients. Laboratory teams identify the virus. Contact tracers follow its path. Community health workers build trust where fear and misinformation have taken hold. Burial teams help families honour their loved ones safely and with dignity.
They are working under extraordinary pressure, often in insecure areas.
Some have contracted Ebola in the line of duty; some have paid with their lives.
Their service must be met with action: protection, training, reliable equipment, timely payment, psychosocial support and access to vaccination, testing and treatment. Their safety is central to stopping transmission.
The response has made progress. Under the leadership of national authorities, Congolese responders, WHO, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) and partners have expanded surveillance, deployed laboratories, supported treatment centres, reinforced infection prevention and delivered essential supplies.
Uganda has interrupted transmission and declared the end of its outbreak, proving the Bundibugyo Ebola virus can be stopped. Decisive national leadership and close cooperation with communities broke the chains of transmission.
The emergency continues in the DRC. Cases are still being detected outside known contact lists. Each one points to a chain that has not yet been found. Every delay gives the virus another opportunity to spread.
The next phase must reach the village.
The DRC’s village-centred strategy takes the response to the places where transmission occurs. Surveillance, testing, treatment, vaccination, infection prevention and community engagement must operate together, close to affected families. Teams need the authority and resources to act quickly.
This is how we stop Ebola at its source: identify infection early, isolate and care for patients safely, follow every contact and prevent the next transmission.
Community leadership will determine whether this works. Women’s groups, young people, religious leaders, traditional healers, survivors and community health workers know where families seek care, how information moves and where trust is weakening. They can identify concerns early, challenge dangerous rumours and help response teams reach people who may otherwise remain invisible.
Their knowledge must shape the response. When they raise concerns, they must see action.
Trust is earned through delivery. A family that reports a suspected case needs safe transport and immediate care. A community that supports vaccination needs clear information about what the vaccine can do. Families who lose loved ones need dignity, compassion and support through safe burial procedures.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who heads the World Health Organization. Photograph: EPA
Health facilities also require urgent protection. As of 18 August, 163 health workers have been infected and 47 have died in the DRC, while Uganda has recorded four health worker infections. Every facility needs trained staff, protective equipment, clean water and sanitation.
An infection in a health facility places workers, patients and families at risk. A protected health facility becomes a centre for early detection, safe care and public confidence.
Financing remains a decisive test. Governments and partners have made commitments that must now reach the response.
National and local teams need predictable funding for surveillance, laboratories, treatment, vaccination, logistics, infection prevention and community engagement. Frontline workers must be paid on time. Supplies must arrive before stocks run out.
Delayed financing costs lives; fragmented financing leaves gaps. Ebola exploits both.
Cross-border coordination must remain strong. People move to trade, work, study, seek care and support families. Countries need rapid information-sharing, aligned surveillance and prepared health facilities along major routes.
The first 100 days have made the priorities clear: find every case; follow every contact; protect every frontline worker; bring testing, treatment and vaccination closer to every affected community. Turn every pledge into action.
Africa CDC will continue working with the DRC, alongside neighbouring countries, communities and partners, to bring the full strength of international and continental cooperation behind the nationally led response.
This outbreak can be ended. Uganda has shown what focused leadership and community action can achieve. The DRC can do the same.
Dr Jean Kaseya is director general of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus is director general of the World Health Organization
