In Bunia, Congo, where a rare Ebola strain continues to spread, U.N. food volunteers cook meals for patients and health workers as officials reopen the airport for domestic flights and Uganda closes its border—while aid shortages threaten efforts to reach ever
BUNIA, Congo — In a shed outside the Evangelical Medical Center in Bunia, the heart of the Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo, Arlette Basekawike stands over a large pot and works like there’s no time to waste.
Her hair is covered by a pink bonnet as she prepares porridge, omelets and bread for breakfast, then shifts toward lunch and dinner. When she cooks fish with fufu—mashed plantains finished with fruit—she feeds both patients and health workers.
“Even though the patients have this disease. they still feel better when they eat. and the doctors have the energy to treat the sick and give them medication. ” Basekawike told The Associated Press as she prepared vegetables and potatoes with goat meat. “I’m here for them like a parent, preparing food so they feel comfortable.”.
With no approved medicine or vaccine, the outbreak offers little comfort. Yet for a remote region already battered by displacement and hunger. a hot meal has become a form of lifeline as the virus—confirmed in May as the Bundibugyo virus. a rare species of Ebola—moves through three eastern provinces: Ituri. North Kivu and South Kivu.
As of Tuesday, 321 cases and 48 deaths had been confirmed in the Central African nation’s three eastern provinces, according to the World Health Organization. Neighboring Uganda has had nine cases and one death confirmed, prompting Uganda to close its border with Congo.
Tuesday also brought a partial loosening of movement inside Congo: Congolese authorities reopened Bunia’s airport for domestic flights, requiring passengers to undergo temperature checks and follow strict sanitary measures.
The International Organization for Migration urged governments to strengthen cross-border coordination instead, warning that border closures could push people’s travel underground and increase transmission risks.
“Viruses do not stop at borders, and neither should our response,” said Ugochi Daniels, IOM deputy director-general for operations. “When borders close. people often continue moving through informal routes where health screening and surveillance are limited.” The Congo-Uganda border has numerous footpaths beyond formal border posts.
The outbreak is unfolding on top of a crisis that was already tearing at daily life. Before Ebola arrived. the region faced one of the world’s most severe food crises. driven by an ongoing conflict that has displaced millions of people as government forces fight rebels. The United Nations warned that could complicate efforts to manage spread of the virus among an already wary population.
“Olivier Nkakudulu, who heads the World Food Program in Ituri province, said the disease is an additional crisis on top of a crisis.”
Nutrition and logistics are colliding in real time with the realities of funding. WFP is facing a critical choice as aid cuts by the U.S. and other major partners have disrupted operations in the vulnerable region. WHO has deemed efforts to contain Ebola a public health emergency of international concern, and those efforts have been hampered.
Attacks by suspicious residents on health workers, and slow delivery of aid because of the conflict, have added to the strain. Still, responders say they have ensured patients’ nutritional demands are being met, as “comfort food” takes on a larger role than it would under normal circumstances.
“Today we need to increase the amount because the number of patients has gone up,” said Esther Bao, a nurse and one of the volunteers. She worried about patients who, because of their health situation, “don’t eat just any meal.”
Even as the outbreak continues to spread, at least five people have recovered, a rare sign of optimism. More than 400 meals have been served since the food assistance began on Thursday, according to Nkakudulu.
But the help is not guaranteed to keep up. “Without more funding, we might not be able to prioritize every suspected case,” Nkakudulu said. “We might have to focus on some and not have food to give to others.”
Congo Bunia Ebola Bundibugyo virus World Health Organization Uganda border closure International Organization for Migration food assistance World Food Program U.N. food agency health workers