How Virunga Park protects people and gorillas from Ebola in eastern DRC

What the report says

Virunga National Park in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo is stepping up health checks and surveillance as Ebola cases continue to emerge in the region, according to Al Jazeera. The park, Africa’s oldest and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, says the effort is aimed at protecting nearby communities as well as the endangered mountain gorillas that live inside its borders. The measures were presented as part of an emergency response after the World Health Organization declared the Ebola outbreak in the DRC and neighbouring Uganda a Public Health Emergency of International Concern in May.

Al Jazeera reported that Virunga has set up six health checkpoints within and around its territory, deployed 40 paramedics and 80 rangers, and installed screening measures such as handwashing stations, temperature checks and small isolation points near the roads crossing the park. In Ituri province, checkpoints near Bunia are screening travellers coming from areas affected by Ebola. Park officials said some suspected cases identified at the checkpoints were referred to public health authorities for monitoring.

The park’s director-general, Emmanuel de Merode, said Virunga is supporting a wider response led by Congolese health authorities and working with them on movement monitoring and early detection. The article also linked the effort to the park’s role during the 2018-2020 outbreak, when it was considered part of the broader containment response. Conservation experts quoted by Al Jazeera said the same precautions matter for gorillas because they can catch human diseases, including Ebola, and that prevention is especially important in a region where great apes are already threatened.