Think biG!

Urge- DevWire

News. Analysis. Events

Urge Inside Health | UrgeDevWire

A weekly development news platform published by UrgeDevWire, produced by Urge Communications. Covering wider East African region.

Inside Health News Desk| East Africa. Urge- DevWire

WFP Deploying Ebola Responders and Food Assistance in Eastern DRC as Outbreak Deepens

BUNIA, DRC, June 2026

The World Food Programme has mobilised a logistics and food assistance operation in eastern DRC to support both Ebola-affected communities and the humanitarian response teams deployed to contain the outbreak. WFP's two frontline Ebola responders in the region, Sib Ollo and Olivier Nkakudulu, described operations that include transporting health workers, moving medical supplies, and providing food assistance to communities living in close proximity to treatment centres.

WFP's dual role reflects the compound nature of the outbreak context in eastern DRC, where Bundibugyo virus disease is spreading through populations already facing acute food insecurity driven by years of conflict, displacement, and restricted access to livelihoods and markets. In Ituri Province alone, where the outbreak's epicentre is concentrated, communities also face the presence of armed groups including the Allied Democratic Forces. Communities in and around treatment centres receive food rations as part of the humanitarian support package.

WFP described drawing on lessons from its experience in the 2018 to 2020 Kivu Ebola response, the largest outbreak in DRC's history, including rapid deployment of supply chain infrastructure and coordination with clinical response partners. The current outbreak has now surpassed 1,300 confirmed cases, with treatment centres in the main affected areas operating beyond listed bed capacity. WFP continues to coordinate with the WHO and Africa CDC continental response team under the joint One Response framework.

Source: WFP

Inside Health News Desk| East Africa. Urge- DevWire