Note: Single-source report; awaiting corroboration.
The Ebola outbreak declared on 15 May in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has exceeded 3,200 cases, making it the fastest-growing outbreak on record and the largest caused by the Bundibugyo virus, which has a fatality rate of around 40 percent, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The epidemic affects 48 health zones across five provinces, including Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu, Tshopo, and Haut-Uele. Ituri, the epicentre, is also a severe hunger hotspot where 1.9 million people face crisis-level food insecurity or worse.
The World Food Programme (WFP) warns that deepening hunger among more than 2.65 million people in affected zones is undermining Ebola response efforts. Carl Skau, acting Executive Director of WFP, stated, "Ebola feeds on delay, fear and hunger." The agency stresses that food assistance is essential for containment, helping families remain at home, supporting safe isolation, building community trust, and enabling health teams to work effectively.
WFP’s response includes the operation of the UN Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS), which has conducted 495 flights, transported 3,395 humanitarian workers, and delivered 56 metric tonnes of critical supplies to frontline locations, including newly affected provinces such as Haut-Uele and Tshopo. WFP has also distributed over 160,000 hot meals to patients, contacts, and frontline workers in treatment and isolation centres, and provided dry food rations to vulnerable populations.
The United Nations, including WFP, WHO, and UNICEF, continues to support local authorities in combating the outbreak, emphasizing that addressing food insecurity is a crucial part of the containment strategy by reducing population movement and supporting safer health operations.