Science & Health

With minimal protection, test kits or training, Congo doctors struggle to contain Ebola outbreak

WBUR | By Here & Now Newsroom

Published June 4, 2026 at 10:59 AM CDT

In a remote mining town in the Ituri province of the Democratic Republic of Congo, doctors, many of them with little or no training, are fighting the Ebola virus.

Recently, New York Times chief Africa correspondent Declan Walsh and photographer Arlette Bashizi visited an Ebola ward in Mongbwalu, where they found frustration not only among the physicians who were struggling to save patients, but also among family members Walsh says “were gripped by fear and confusion,” some throwing rocks, breaking windows and “freeing patients” who might then continue to spread the virus.

Among their recent articles is “Inside the Ebola Epicenter, the Virus Rages With Little to Stop It.” Walsh and Bashizi talk to host Robin Young about the dire situation.

A relative and a medical worker caring for Christiane Bahati, an Ebola patient in Mongbwalu, shortly before she fell into a coma and died. (Courtesy of Arlette Bashizi for The New York Times)

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.