Health workers simulate evacuation protocols using a manikin for deceased victims of Ebola during a training by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in Ongata Rongai, Kajiado County, on July 10, 2026. [AFP]
Behind the rapidly rising Ebola case count lies another grim statistic: hundreds of children are dying. UNICEF says that by August 2, the Bundibugyo outbreak had infected 743 children aged between zero and 17 years, claiming the lives of 330 of them.
While children make up nearly a quarter of all confirmed infections, they account for almost one-third of Ebola deaths, a stark reminder that the outbreak is exacting its heaviest toll on the youngest patients. For health experts, however, the tragedy extends beyond those infected, as fear of the virus continues to keep families away from hospitals, exposing even more children to preventable illnesses.
Before Ebola arrived in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, Mongbwalu General Hospital rarely had a quiet day. Every month, nearly 500 patients streamed through its doors. Mothers queued with babies for routine immunisations. Pregnant women attended antenatal clinics before delivering safely under the watch of skilled health workers. Others sought treatment for malaria, diarrhoea and respiratory infections —the everyday illnesses that continue to claim thousands of young African lives.
Today, the wards are eerily quiet.
"Before the epidemic, we had an average of 500 patients per month. When the Bundibugyo Ebola virus epidemic was declared, we saw a complete drop in patients," says Dr Lokudu Richard, a physician at Mongbwalu Hospital in Ituri Province.
His experience reflects a growing crisis unfolding far beyond the virus itself.