The World Bank says it is mobilizing staff, emergency resources and a new financing package to support the response to the worsening Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as health officials warn the crisis could escalate further across the region.
Monique Vledder, head of the World Bank’s global health department, said the institution had already dispatched teams and supplies to eastern Congo and was now preparing additional emergency funding that could be released rapidly in the coming weeks.
“We are pulling together today and early next week a complete package where we will be drawing from different types of financing mechanisms that will help us to make available more funding in a rapid way,” Vledder told Reuters.
The World Bank said it was particularly concerned about neighbouring South Sudan and Burundi because of weak health response systems and limited outbreak preparedness.
While Uganda has a stronger public health infrastructure, Vledder noted that Kampala still faces funding gaps after confirming two imported Ebola cases linked to the Congo outbreak.
The outbreak, caused by the rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, has already been declared a public health emergency of international concern by the World Health Organization.
According to the WHO, Congo has recorded 82 confirmed cases, seven confirmed deaths, 177 suspected deaths and nearly 750 suspected cases so far, with officials warning that the true scale of the outbreak may be significantly larger.
The World Bank currently has a $250 million health emergency project active in Congo, approved in March 2024 to strengthen disease surveillance and outbreak response systems. Bank data show that around $200 million from the programme remains available for deployment.
The United Nations has also released about $60 million from its emergency response fund to support containment efforts, while the United States is deploying a rapid response team and backing dozens of emergency clinics in affected regions.
Health experts say the Bundibugyo strain presents major challenges because there is no approved vaccine or therapeutic treatment currently available. Early symptoms also resemble malaria and typhoid, complicating early diagnosis and increasing the risk of undetected transmission.
Vledder said controlling the outbreak would depend heavily on aggressive public health interventions, including widespread testing, contact tracing, community engagement and safe burial procedures.
“Control will really depend on very fast, large-scale public health measures, like case detection, contact tracing, safe and dignified burials, and a lot of community engagement,” she said.
The World Bank added that it is working closely with the WHO, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and other international partners to accelerate research into possible vaccines and treatment options for the Bundibugyo strain.
Aid agencies and frontline health workers continue to face major logistical challenges responding to the outbreak, particularly in eastern Congo where conflict, displacement and poor infrastructure have complicated access to affected communities.
Officials say it may take another week before international teams can fully assess the scale and long-term impact of the outbreak.
