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Bloomberg Audio Studios Podcasts Radio News Eastern
Podcast Host (Jennifer Zabasadja)
Democratic Republic of Congo seems to go from one crisis to another.
Podcast Co-host/Reporter (Jennifer Zabasadja)
It's faced natural disasters and is in an ongoing war. But now it's facing an outbreak of Ebola, a deadly virus that strikes fear across the world. It's one that the World Health Organization has already declared an emergency.
World Health Organization Representative
I'm deeply concerned about the scale and speed of the epidemic. Cases have been reported in urban areas including Kampala and the city of Goma. In the drc, deaths have been reported among health workers indicating health care associated transmission. There is significant population movement in the area now.
Podcast Co-host/Reporter (Jennifer Zabasadja)
The DRC has faced many Ebola outbreaks over the years, helping it to build expertise in how to manage the virus. But with cases spreading in a conflict zone against a backdrop of shrinking international aid budgets, could this outbreak be a harder one to control? And citizens in eastern Congo are having to face yet another disaster.
Local Congo Resident
This disease that has appeared in our community is causing great concern. At this point, we do not really know what kind of disease it is. Every day people are dying in Rumpara. This has been happening for about a week, and in a single day, we bury two, three or even more people.
Podcast Co-host/Reporter (Jennifer Zabasadja)
On today's Next Africa Podcast, we're looking at this latest outbreak of Ebola in the drc, how cuts to international aid, including usaid, have affected the response and how serious things are on the ground right now. I'm Jennifer Zabasadja, and this is the Next Africa Podcast, bringing you one story each week from the continent driving the future of global growth with the context only Bloomberg can provide.
Podcast Host (Jennifer Zabasadja)
So joining me today is our senior health care reporter. That is Janice Q.
Podcast Co-host/Reporter (Jennifer Zabasadja)
And also Caitlin Brady.
Podcast Host (Jennifer Zabasadja)
She is the Democratic Republic of Congo country director for the ngo, the Danish Refugee Council, and she's currently in Goma, near the Rwandan border right now. Janice, maybe we just start with you because this outbreak is fast moving. Things are changing quite rapidly.
Podcast Co-host/Reporter (Jennifer Zabasadja)
Maybe you can give us a lay of the land.
Podcast Host (Jennifer Zabasadja)
What do we know about where things stand at this current moment?
Janice Q. (Senior Health Care Reporter)
Jen, as you say, things are moving very quickly. At the moment, we are seeing 540 suspected cases and 131 deaths. But researchers are concerned that the estimate of the true number of infections is probably already larger than 800 cases. Just as a point of reference, we only had the notification of this come through late on Thursday. So less than a week ago, we had the notification come through. And one of the initial big concerns was that there were healthcare workers that were infected. And the reason that is a big concern is that they're obviously working with a whole lot of people. And so when you at the point of healthcare workers being infected, people have come into facilities where the infection has likely occurred, and then those healthcare workers have worked with other people. And if that had been going on for some time before anyone realized that it was Ebola, the options on contact tracing become far more complicated. It's also concerning that there have been travelers. We've seen that the first death in Uganda was from someone who'd come over the border from Congo. And when you have infection spreading amongst people traveling, that also raises concerns.
Podcast Host (Jennifer Zabasadja)
Caitlin, maybe we go to you as well, because this outbreak is really concentrated in the drc.
Podcast Co-host/Reporter (Jennifer Zabasadja)
You're on the ground there.
Podcast Host (Jennifer Zabasadja)
Can you give us a sense of what you're seeing, what you've been hearing over the past few days and maybe even weeks?
Caitlin Brady (DRC Country Director, Danish Refugee Council)
I'm in Goma. As Janice was saying, we have had Travelers come here from Ituri, and unfortunately, one of them did fall ill while in Goma and has been hospitalized. And the local health workers are doing contact tracing for that individual. So that obviously complicates matters. We also have two positive cases in Butembo. North Kivu has been the site of several epidemics. This is the 17th epidemic and response that the DRC has dealt with. And the most ferocious response was the 10th in North Kivu. Ituri is the epicenter of this crisis. Ituri is the province in the far northeast, on the border with Uganda and South Sudan. And unfortunately, where this started is it's a mining town in a territory that is heavily conflict affected, an area that potentially doesn't have a lot of humanitarian access, that isn't very stable, and potentially where education and exposure to modern medicine is potentially less so for at least two weeks, it would seem there were some cases, some deaths before the alert was raised and as Janice said, when health workers started dying. What we've seen now is a very rapid response by the government and also by the health agencies like MSF and Medic, for example, who are doing their very best to do the contact tracing and to identify among those contacts who shows preliminary symptoms, make sure those people are isolating. Obviously, as we've seen in the past, this is a very scary thing for the community to face. They don't necessarily understand Ebola. This is a very closed. These are closed communities. And in particular in this area, they haven't dealt with Ebola before. If this was North Kivu, everybody would be sort of okay, we know how to do this, we know how to do this, but it's not. It's a Tori and it's Jugu and it's conflict affected. The access is very, very poor in this area, or at least it has been. Just last week, last Thursday, we were celebrating the announcement of a ceasefire by one of the armed groups who voluntarily declared a unilateral ceasefire starting Friday morning. Excellent. Excellent news. Unfortunately, at the same time, we had the news of the outbreak and we had to shift gears immediately into a public health response.
Podcast Host (Jennifer Zabasadja)
What has that looked like, Caitlin? Because as you mentioned, this country has seen quite a few outbreaks in the past, but this region, I mean, you speak to how this is a bit new for a lot of this community. What has it looked like differently than previous outbreaks that you've been on the ground for?
Caitlin Brady (DRC Country Director, Danish Refugee Council)
So I've been on the ground for the West Africa Ebola crisis in Liberia and Also for the 2018-2020 10th Ebola response here, I'd say actually there are a lot of similarities in that. Initially we heard rumors that, oh, people thought this was blackmatic. They thought that family was cursed. We've also already started hearing harmful rumors about the origin of this outbreak, that it was malicious. For example, doing risk communications and community engagement and in particular, countering some of these rumors is absolutely critical and we need to educate people about how they can protect themselves. These are some of the most vulnerable people in the world. Ituri hosts Almost a million IDPs and DJUNHU has a lot of IDP camps. So these are camps where internally displaced persons, people who have fled conflict, take refuge from violence, some of which host over 100,000 people. These are literally some of the most vulnerable people in the world. And they've faced violence and conflict and displacement, and now they could face Ebola. So it's a terrible situation and we really need to act quickly and along with the nuts and bolts of the response. So the isolation of suspected cases, care of confirmed cases, the contact tracing, along with all of that, we really need to bring the community along with us. And I know that the WHO has already deployed some anthropologists to support the risk communications and community engagement work that the entire community will be doing to ensure that people do come to health facilities, that they do follow the, that they do. Call the hotline that the Ministry of Health has set up to report. Hey, I'm not feeling well and these are my symptoms. Could it be Ebola? But they need to trust the healthcare system and they need to trust the responders. And they've had a really hard time. This area has been conflict affected since 2018, quite intensively. And then obviously previously during that first and second Congolese wars. So it's a vulnerable area and we're very worried about the situation.
Podcast Host (Jennifer Zabasadja)
Absolutely. Janice, maybe you can come in with some of the facts as well. Caitlin was speaking to what people may or may not think about what, what is currently going on. A lot of the discussion over the past few days has been about just how different this strain of Ebola is than previous ones. Can you just talk about how this Bundabugio strain, what we need to know about it right now?
Janice Q. (Senior Health Care Reporter)
Congo is very experienced, actually with Ebola outbreaks. This is their 17th Ebola outbreak. But only two previous outbreaks have been this specific strain that we're seeing now. And already this outbreak has exceeded, in terms of case numbers and deaths, the previous two outbreaks of that strain. That is a difference. The Zaire strain is far more researched, and it already has an approved vaccine and therapeutics, which this strain does not. So that is a concern because even if tools can be deployed successfully, which, as Caitlin's already described, is challenging in and of itself, whether or not they're actually going to be effective against this particular strain is not yet known. And so that is concerning. The other big concern really is just how extensive it may already be. We got reports over the weekend that we were also seeing Ebola cases in Kinshasa. Now, Kinshasa is very far away. That may be that we've had transmission, but it could also be that there was actually outbursts or hot spots in a lot of different places. And that is even more concerning in many ways because it shows that it's probably been going on undetected for a very long time. And the reason that could be is that the initial symptoms are quite confusing. They could be symptoms of diseases like malaria or typhoid. And that that is deeply concerning the outbreak of 2014-2016, which really devastated West Africa, that infected more than 28,000 people. That's a lot of people.
Podcast Host (Jennifer Zabasadja)
Stick with us.
Podcast Co-host/Reporter (Jennifer Zabasadja)
We're going to take a short break and when we come back, we'll have more on the international response to this latest outbreak. We'll be right back.
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Podcast Co-host/Reporter (Jennifer Zabasadja)
welcome back. Today on the podcast we're looking at the evolving situation in the DRC as
Podcast Host (Jennifer Zabasadja)
the WHO have declared the Ebola outbreak
Podcast Co-host/Reporter (Jennifer Zabasadja)
a public emergency of international concern.
Podcast Host (Jennifer Zabasadja)
I have Janice Q. And Caitlin Brady still with me. Can we talk about the people who are maybe coming in to support and I'm talking about the international community and in particular there's been quite a bit of discussion over the past few days about USAID and potentially what impact that could or couldn't have had on detecting earlier cases. Janice, I want to start with you and then Caitlin, I'll get your opinion as well. Where does that fit into this conversation?
Janice Q. (Senior Health Care Reporter)
Janice, it's difficult to pinpoint exactly how much of USAID funds exactly would have improved surveillance, but in variable breaststrokes, funding internationally and not just from America, actually from many other partners fell off a cliff last year. And that no doubt has an impact because clinics close, virologists who were looking at samples and doing trials, etc. A lot of that shuts down when there is no funding. There is an obvious repercussion to that. Again, how to pinpoint that to this specific outbreak is a little bit difficult, but by logic of the fact that there is less surveillance generally and less research being done on possible vaccines and other therapeutics makes it difficult to say that it hasn't had an impact. It has had an impact. The response has been swift. As soon as the DRC identified that this was Ebola, they have the who, Africa, CDC have sent people in. We have had a lot of other organizations like Doctors Without Border Orders Et cetera, WHO have said that they've deployed people. The US has offered funding specifically for this outbreak. The US CDC is also involved at this point. So there has been a response, but in the bigger, broad brushstrokes, when you've got the US Pulling out of the who, for example, which is what they did last year, and there are other countries that have been talking about it as well, it really does leave the WHO in a weakened position. And that definitely has ramifications. The WHO said that they've got quite a bit of funding, I think about 90% for the current year. But that 10% is going to be incredibly difficult to marshal. And one of the reasons that they called this global health emergency so early was in an effort to marshal resources. That was really what the main objective of that at that moment in time was.
Podcast Host (Jennifer Zabasadja)
Yeah, and we heard the Director General talking about that. Caitlin, can you speak to how it's
Podcast Co-host/Reporter (Jennifer Zabasadja)
that the international response and also the
Podcast Host (Jennifer Zabasadja)
receding of some of the aid from the international community has manifested in your work and what you've been seeing, as
Caitlin Brady (DRC Country Director, Danish Refugee Council)
Janice was saying, we're a lot thinner on the ground than we used to be. And that's not just the withdrawal of USAID funding. It's also, frankly, reductions of funding coming from European capitals as well. As priorities shift to, say, security. And while one might be sympathetic with their interests, the result is that there's just a lot less funding for humanitarian assistance. In terms of our work, yeah, we've definitely contracted. And so DRC would have had large scale programming supporting displaced persons funded by usaid, which we no longer have. And normally we would have been working in some of these camps in water and sanitation and hygiene. So would other people, because there's hundreds of thousands of people in these camps and there's a ton of need. Having said that, these camps, the access was bad. We didn't have the funding. And so we weren't present on the ground, for example, for the past couple months. And so people are living in really unsanitary conditions, cheek by jowl with shelters that are collapsing. They don't have latrines. What latrines they may have had are full. And so you will see open defecation and really just horrific sanitary conditions. The basic advice that we give to people about wash your hands, wash your arms frequently, they just can't do that. They don't have the means to do that. So if Ebola arrives in these camps, it's going to be a really horrific situation. Coming back to usaid, the US Government and the Department of State has announced the mobilization of funding and that's fantastic. And right now, myself, my colleagues here at the Danish Refugee Council and all of my colleagues in the UN and in the NGOs are looking for resources to respond. It's really critical that we move fast. This is a situation where waiting a week is not acceptable.
Podcast Host (Jennifer Zabasadja)
Caitlin, maybe I'll give you the final word as you're on the front line. What is it that you are watching closely? Outside of the humanitarian aspect of it,
Caitlin Brady (DRC Country Director, Danish Refugee Council)
maybe hard to put my humanitarian self aside, but what we were in addition to the deployment of vaccines and I presume, testing of vaccines against this strain to see if they're at all effective. We're looking at movements of population and the spread. We obviously need to keep our staff safe. That's our first priority so that they can continue to work. But we need to move very fast. These are again, some of the most vulnerable people on the planet and they are facing a very deadly virus. So they need our help.
Podcast Host (Jennifer Zabasadja)
Which is why we have to say thank you to you, Caitlin and your team. Caitlin Brady and also Janice Q. You as well, for the work that you are doing to bring the message of what is happening currently with this outbreak. Caitlin Brady and Janice Q. Thank you guys so much.
Podcast Co-host/Reporter (Jennifer Zabasadja)
You can read all of our coverage right now on the Ebola outbreak on Bloomberg platforms. Here's some of the other stories we've been following across the region this week. South African trade authorities proposed wide ranging increases in tariffs on steel imports in an attempt to provide safeguards as a quote, unprecedented emergency batters the nation's industry. And the Arab bank for Economic Development in Africa told investors last week that Senegal is in arrears with the lender, according to people familiar with the matter, adding to signs of mounting financial strain on the government. You can follow these stories across Bloomberg, including the next Africa newsletter. We'll put a link to that in the show.
Podcast Host (Jennifer Zabasadja)
Notes
Podcast Co-host/Reporter (Jennifer Zabasadja)
this program was produced by Adrienne Bradley and Tiwa Adebayo. Don't forget to follow and review the
Podcast Host (Jennifer Zabasadja)
show wherever you usually get your podcasts,
Podcast Co-host/Reporter (Jennifer Zabasadja)
but for now, I'm Jennifer Zabasadja. Thanks as always for listening.
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Date: May 25, 2026
Host: Jennifer Zabasadja (Bloomberg, Next Africa Podcast)
Guests:
This episode explores the latest Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), with a focus on whether recent international aid cuts—including reductions from USAID—made the outbreak harder to control. Through on-the-ground perspective and expert analysis, the discussion dives into the evolution of the crisis, response challenges in a conflict zone, and the broader ramifications of waning global support for public health emergencies in Africa.
Timestamps: 01:54–05:45
Timestamps: 05:45–08:18
Timestamps: 10:54–12:59
Timestamps: 15:44–20:48
Timestamps: 20:39–21:23
| Segment | Timestamp | |-------------------------------------------------------|-------------| | Introduction of DRC Ebola outbreak | 01:54 | | First on-the-ground reports and scope | 04:21 | | Mining towns, conflict zone challenges | 05:52 | | Community rumors and risk communication | 08:35 | | Bundibugyo strain differences & detection hurdles | 11:18 | | Impact of international aid cuts | 16:14 | | On-the-ground humanitarian capacity | 18:30 | | Imminent risks in IDP camps and need for speed | 19:22–20:48 |
Jennifer Zabasadja wraps up by thanking the guests and reiterating the urgent, ongoing nature of the crisis. She encourages listeners to read further coverage on Bloomberg’s platforms and underscores the critical need for attention and resources directed at the outbreak.
“These are again, some of the most vulnerable people on the planet and they are facing a very deadly virus. So they need our help.” — Caitlin Brady (20:48)
For further coverage, visit Bloomberg’s Ebola outbreak pages and the Next Africa newsletter.