Thousands forced to use one water source from Ebola treatment site in Democratic Republic of the Congo

• NGO community-based outreach at just 10 per cent due to lack of funding 
• Health facilities overwhelmed as some operating at over 130 per cent capacity

Two months into the world’s largest Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), up to 20,000 people are being forced to fetch drinking water from a single water source inside the grounds of an Ebola treatment center in Bunia because they have no alternative. 

Oxfam staff report that most health centers in Ebola hotspots remain without clean water and sanitation support – leaving dangerous gaps in one of the most important defences against Ebola transmission. 

Dr. Manenji Mangundu, Oxfam Country Director for Democratic Republic of the Congo, said:

“Without clean water and functioning sanitation, the basic conditions needed to halt transmission of the Ebola virus simply do not exist. When families are forced to collect water from inside treatment compounds because there is nowhere else to go, this is no longer a public health crisis with a water problem. It is a public health crisis with a lit fuse.”

More than 2,011 Ebola cases have been confirmed with 754 deaths reported across 42 health zones in eastern DRC, according to the DRC’s Ministry of Health. Despite the growing toll, the response continues to dangerously lag behind with around 70 new cases reported nearly every day.

The virus is also spreading beyond the initial epicentre, with health authorities confirming new cases in Tshopo, Haut-Uélé provinces and most recently in Kisangani, a city of more than 1.6 million people extending the outbreak's proximity closer to two additional international borders, South Sudan and the Central African Republic.

While contact tracing has now reached 80 per cent coverage, it remains well below the more than 90 per cent achieved at the same stage of the Ebola outbreak in 2018, leaving a significant gap in efforts to contain the spread of the disease.

At the same time, funding shortages are pushing Ebola treatment centers beyond their limits. Several facilities in North Kivu and Ituri are operating beyond their capacity with some operating at over 130 per cent forcing health workers to care for growing numbers of patients without sufficient resources. 

As treatment centres get full, many people with suspected Ebola cases cannot be admitted and remain instead in the community or are treated in poorly equipped primary healthcare facilities, diminishing their chances of survival and exposing health workers and communities to additional transmission. In one case, a woman with suspected virus had to wait for four hours for an ambulance because only one vehicle was available to transport patients.

"Health workers are doing everything they can, but many are working without even basic protective equipment like gloves, and that's why we are seeing high rates of infection among medical staff across different locations in Ituri. The health centres were not prepared" said Mangundu. 

Funding shortages are also slowing down community outreach activities, one of the most critical components to stop the spread of misinformation and improve surveillance. Two months on, NGO community engagement activities have reached just 10 per cent coverage, a fraction of what is needed to help contain transmission according to Centre for Diseases  Prevention (CDC).

“Rumours are filling the vacuum. People are either unaware of the outbreak or too afraid to seek treatment. They are dying at home.  Every community death we cannot reach is a transmission chain we cannot break.” added Mangundu.

Oxfam is calling for the urgent investment to restore safe water and better equip health facilities and communities so that families can have basic protection mechanisms. Every delay without action allows the virus to spread further putting more lives at risk.

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