Caught Between Killers: Ebola on One Side, Islamic State on the Other

What the report says

The New York Times reports that the center of Congo’s fast-moving Ebola outbreak has shifted into a conflict zone in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where rebel violence is making containment far harder. The article focuses on Biakato, a town in Ituri province that has seen a sharp rise in infections while health workers struggle with shortages of medicine, protective gear and staff. Local records cited by the paper showed a very high death rate among Ebola patients in the town, reflecting how overwhelmed the response has become.

The report says the outbreak, first detected in May, has spread beyond its original cluster and now covers multiple provinces, with cases rising in places along the Beni-Mambasa corridor. Aid efforts have been complicated by attacks attributed to the Allied Democratic Forces, a militia that pledged allegiance to the Islamic State. The newspaper says recent raids killed scores of people, forced residents to flee and disrupted treatment efforts, including by driving Ebola patients out of care facilities.

Health workers and volunteers described trying to respond with limited resources while facing threats from armed groups. The article says aid organizations have begun using helicopters and trying to build treatment capacity, but many locals feel abandoned. The broader significance, according to the Times, is that insecurity is weakening disease control just as the outbreak threatens to become one of the largest in history, surpassing earlier Ebola crises if transmission continues to accelerate.