Confirmed Ebola cases top 6,700 in DR Congo as severe hunger hampers outbreak response

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has reported over 6,700 confirmed Ebola cases, with a severe hunger crisis in the country compounding difficulties in outbreak response, health authorities and aid agencies warned on Wednesday.

According to data released Wednesday by the DRC’s National Institute of Public Health, the current Ebola outbreak has claimed 3,267 lives out of the 6,757 confirmed cases, resulting in a fatality rate of about 48.3 percent.

In the past 24 hours alone, 71 new cases and 41 deaths were reported. A total of 27 patients recovered from their illness, bringing the total number of recovered patients to 1,590.

The outbreak has now spread to 61 health zones across six provinces: Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu, Haut-Uele, Bas-Uele and Tshopo. Ituri Province remains the epicenter of the crisis, accounting for roughly 80 percent of all confirmed cases.

Meanwhile, the World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Wednesday that a severe hunger crisis in eastern DRC is exacerbating the challenges of containing the disease.

David Stevenson, WFP Country Director for the DRC, highlighted the dire situation in Ituri Province, where more than half a million people are currently facing severe food insecurity.

“That’s one notch short of mortality from starvation,” he said.

Stevenson emphasized that hunger undermines people’s willingness and ability to adhere to health protocols. He also warned that many Ebola patients, particularly those in remote areas, lose their chance of survival simply because they are too far away from lifesaving treatment centers.

The WFP urges the international community to increase financial support, build more treatment centers, and deliver food assistance to remote areas.

The U.N. agency calls for a comprehensive approach that integrates food assistance with medical services and community-based prevention efforts to effectively contain the outbreak.

Indonesia’s main airport — the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport — has resumed operation after Mount Anak Krakatau’s eruption grounded flights across multiple Indonesian cities, but major flight disruptions persist as volcanic ash continues to clear from the capital’s airspace.

According to Indonesia’s geological authorities, Mount Anak Krakatau has been erupting since Sept 4, with a stronger eruption recorded on Sunday. These eruptions have led to closures of operation at multiple airports.

Indonesia’s Coordinating Ministry for Infrastructure and Regional Development said in a statement Monday that the airport closures caused at least 2,961 flights to be delayed, diverted or canceled, affecting about 341,000 passengers. Eight airports across the country had been closed at one point due to the eruption.

The airport officially resumed normal operation early on Tuesday as the volcanic ash dispersed from the surrounding area. Despite the resumption of operation, airlines are still struggling to process a massive backlog of nearly 3,000 affected flights.

Departure screens at the airport showed that many domestic routes, including flights from Jakarta to Lampung, Surabaya and Semarang, have remained either delayed or canceled.

The airport’s reopening has not meant an immediate return to normal travel for passengers. Many travelers have been forced to rebook or request refunds as airlines gradually restore services. An airline staff member at the airport said full normalization may not come until September 11.

“Maybe, 11th of September. [On] 11th of September, we have the normal,” said the staffer.

Some passengers reported long waits and last-minute changes. One of a couple of travelers from New Zealand said their flight home on Wednesday was suddenly canceled, forcing them to wait at the airport for a replacement departure late that night.

“Well, we left our hotel at 12:00 o’clock and then we came out to the airport. We’ve got now until midnight before we leave,” said the traveler.

Indonesia’s Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation, known as PVMBG, continues to monitor volcanic activity nationwide. The center’s real-time hazard platform shows Anak Krakatau remains at a Level III alert, the second highest warning.

Mount Anak Krakatau, located in the Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra, has erupted repeatedly in recent years. Its partial collapse in 2018 triggered a tsunami that killed more than 400 people.