Britain said Thursday it would provide up to £20 million (US$26.87 million) to help contain an Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo that has already spread into neighbouring Uganda.
The funding will support the World Health Organization, UN agencies and non-governmental organisations working to strengthen surveillance, protect frontline health workers and improve infection prevention measures, Britain’s Foreign Office said.
The latest outbreak, involving the Bundibugyo strain of the virus, has raised fears of wider regional transmission as infections continue to rise.
According to the WHO, Congo had recorded around 600 suspected cases and 139 suspected deaths as of Wednesday.
Laboratory tests have confirmed 51 Ebola cases in Congo, while Uganda has confirmed two cases linked to the outbreak.
“The outbreak is expected to continue to grow,” the WHO warned earlier this week.
The eastern Congolese provinces affected by the outbreak have long struggled with insecurity, displacement and weak healthcare systems, complicating efforts to trace contacts and contain transmission.
In Bunia, in Ituri province, aid agencies have intensified public awareness campaigns and emergency health interventions as authorities race to prevent further spread.
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Britain said its funding package would help improve disease monitoring and provide critical support to health workers responding to the outbreak.
The UK Health Security Agency said it was also assessing travel routes into Britain from affected countries and had activated a programme to monitor the health of people travelling from the UK to outbreak areas for work.
Ebola is a severe viral disease transmitted through direct contact with bodily fluids of infected people and can cause severe fever, bleeding and organ failure.
The Bundibugyo strain, first identified in Uganda in 2007, generally has a lower fatality rate than the more common Zaire strain but remains highly dangerous.
Congo has experienced several Ebola outbreaks over the past decade, including one between 2018 and 2020 that killed nearly 2,300 people.
International health agencies say rapid detection, contact tracing and community cooperation remain critical to stopping the current outbreak from escalating further.
