Strengthen the response to the current Ebola epidemic in DR Congo. This was the message from the French foreign minister during a visit to the eastern province of Ituri, the epicenter of the current outbreak.
The Central African country is in the grip of its 17th Ebola virus epidemic, which in just a few months has become the deadliest ever known in DR Congo.
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Jean-Noël Barrot went to Bunia, capital of the province of Ituri, to demonstrate “France’s support and to announce that we intend to strengthen it”, he declared to the press during this visit, the first by a European minister since the start of this epidemic.
“Viruses do not know borders and you can only protect yourself from them if you eradicate them where they appear, however far from the national territory,” he argued.
The virus is now circulating with “less intensity” in Ituri
Between January and July, France dedicated 13.4 million euros to the response to the current outbreak, which started in Ituri and which has since spread to seven provinces of the country.
To date, 8,300 cases of Ebola – including 4,018 deaths and 2,162 recoveries – have been recorded since the start of the epidemic, for a fatality rate of 48.4%, according to the latest data from the Congolese authorities.
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The head of French diplomacy notably visited the Rwampara Ebola treatment center, located on the outskirts of Bunia, and built by the NGO Alima, supported by France. This center, one of the first deployed in the province, today has an occupancy rate of 24%, according to an Alima representative on site.
The epidemic is “moving”, and the virus is now circulating with “less intensity” in Ituri than in the neighboring province of North Kivu, Congolese virologist and co-discoverer of the Ebola virus, Jean-Jacques Muyembe, who was present during this visit, told AFP.
Meeting of Jean-Noël Barrot with President Félis Tshisekedi
The response lacks the means to monitor cases in remote areas, and is hampered by the presence of armed groups and the mistrust of some local populations.
In recent days, “violent armed clashes” have hampered response operations in certain localities of Ituri where there is a community conflict between local militias, and more than 5,000 people have been displaced, according to the UN.
Friday, Jean-Noël Barrot met Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi in Kinshasa, capital of DR Congo.
He also called on the Congolese authorities “so that justice can be done” in the case of the death of Karine Buisset, a French humanitarian killed in March in an unclaimed drone strike in Goma, capital of the North Kivu province which fell into the hands of the M23 armed group supported by Kigali in 2025, he told AFP.
The Ministry of Justice of the DR Congo also announced on Friday on
With AFP
