Sunday 15 November 2026
Six months ago, on Friday 15 May 2026, health authorities confirmed an Ebola outbreak in Ituri Province, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Today, it is the largest Ebola outbreak the country has ever recorded.
But Ebola is only one of the crises children in DRC are living through. It arrived in communities already facing years of conflict and some of the worst hunger in the world. Each crisis makes the others harder to survive. Here's what that looks like for children, and what's being done about it.
Ebola: the largest outbreak in DRC's history
As of Tuesday 10 November 2026, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had recorded 11,114 confirmed cases and 5,433 deaths across eight provinces. Children are among the hardest hit. Save the Children's latest figures show that more than 2,800 children have been infected and 1,320 have died: nearly half of the children who caught the virus. According to UNICEF, more than 1,900 children had lost or been separated from one or both parents or caregivers by early October.
This outbreak is caused by the rare Bundibugyo virus, a type of Ebola with no approved vaccine or treatment. That means stopping it depends on finding cases early, isolating them safely, tracing everyone they've been close to, and making sure families have trusted information.
Vaccine trials have been authorised in Canada and the UK, and treatment trials are underway in DRC, but there is still no validated vaccine. Neighbouring Uganda, which recorded 20 cases, was declared Ebola-free on Tuesday 28 July.
Conflict: families forced to flee again and again
Ebola arrived against a backdrop of decades of violence in eastern DRC. Fighting forces families from their homes, often more than once, and cuts children off from healthcare, school and safe places to play. The situation has significantly deteriorated since 2025. An estimated 1.7 million people were newly displaced across parts of eastern DRC in the first half of 2026 alone, and 6.1 million people were internally displaced across the country as of 30 June 2026.
For children, conflict can mean violence, being separated from their families and losing the chance to learn. It also makes Ebola harder to stop: when people keep moving, it's much harder to trace who has been in contact with a sick person.
Hunger: 30 million people facing crisis levels
Hunger is getting worse. According to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), published on Friday 30 October 2026, 28.8 million people in DRC face crisis levels of hunger or worse this autumn, rising to 30.3 million by mid-2027. The IPC is the global standard for measuring hunger.
Aid agencies report that failed harvests, rising food prices and repeated displacement are making it harder for parents to feed their children. Ebola adds to this: fear of infection and movement restrictions disrupt markets and keep families away from health centres. Our Country Director in DRC, Greg Ramm, said the trend is "clear and deeply worrying".
For children, hunger can mean malnutrition, and a malnourished child is far more likely to become seriously ill.
Education: keeping schools safe
Schools should be safe places, but conflict and disease are putting children's education at risk. Schools reopened in September 2026, but nearly 1.8 million children attend schools in Ebola-affected areas that still lack infection prevention measures such as handwashing stations, according to the DRC Education Cluster. Fear of Ebola and ongoing violence are also keeping many children away from class, as our colleagues in DRC explain in this blog.
Where schools do have support, they're working. At a school we support in Komanda, Ituri, children have their temperature checked and wash their hands before class. Local pupils learn in the morning, and children displaced by fighting learn in the afternoon.
What we're doing
We've worked in DRC since 1994, and we've been responding to Ebola since the outbreak was first announced. As of Saturday 19 September 2026, our response had reached more than 330,000 people, including 173,000 children, working alongside health authorities, local partners and communities.
We're training health workers to prevent and control Ebola, and providing protective equipment and hygiene supplies to health centres.
We're keeping nutrition and lifesaving health services running, so children can still be treated for malnutrition, malaria and other illnesses.
We're helping children stay safe through child protection and psychosocial support, including an Observation Care Centre for children exposed to Ebola.
We're supporting schools to keep children learning.
And we're sharing trusted information, through radio, posters, community leaders and even puppets, to help communities protect children from disease and harm.
Children are part of the answer too. In a new programme we support, 35 children aged 8 to 17 are broadcasting on two local radio stations in Ituri, busting myths about Ebola and sharing how to stay safe. Deborah*, 16, told us that a neighbour who used to say Ebola didn't exist changed his mind after hearing the broadcasts, and called the health teams straight away when his brother fell ill with a fever.
How you can help
You don't need to be in DRC to make a difference. You can help by:
- Talking about what's happening in DRC. Crises that stay in the news get more support.
- Sharing this blog, or our guide to what Ebola means for children. Trusted information is one of the best tools against Ebola.
- Making a donation to help children affected by Ebola and other emergencies. Your generous donation could provide children and families affected by Ebola in DRC, as well as other disasters across the world, with life-saving essentials like food, water and crucial mental health support. It can also help create lasting change through longer term programmes to alleviate poverty and the chronic impact of climate change.
We've worked in DRC since 1994. We won't stop now.
Read more about our work in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
