The World Food Programme (WFP) has warned that the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is deepening an already severe food crisis, calling the situation "a crisis on top of a crisis."
Facing emergency food insecurity in DRC before the Ebola outbreak
WFP Deputy Executive Director Carl Skau said some areas have reached 'catastrophe' levels of food insecurity. He noted that the Ebola outbreak has negatively affected markets and supply routes, worsening the crisis.
Skau emphasized that regular food delivery to those in need is critical; otherwise people will be more concerned about what to eat the next day than following health warnings.
According to WFP data, approximately 10 million people in eastern DRC face crisis or emergency levels of hunger due to long-standing conflict. In Ituri province, the epicenter of the Ebola outbreak, 1.9 million people are affected by food insecurity.
Experiencing acute food insecurity in 48 health zones affected by Ebola
Of those, 628,000 are in need of urgent humanitarian assistance. An Ebola outbreak was declared on May 15 in DRC after 246 suspected cases and 65 deaths in Ituri province.
The current outbreak is caused by the rare Ebola variant 'Bundibugyo', for which there is no approved treatment or vaccine. The Ebola virus first emerged in 1976 in simultaneous outbreaks in Sudan's Nzara town and DRC's Yambuku village, and is named after the Ebola River near the village in DRC where cases first appeared.
The 2014-2017 Ebola outbreak in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone infected about 30,000 people and killed over 11,000.