Ebola: Water scarcity hampers control efforts in epicentre
An Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is being exacerbated by a severe lack of clean water and sanitation. Residents are struggling to maintain hygiene, which is essential for preventing the spread of the virus, due to poverty and contamination from local mining.
Why it matters
Water scarcity is a critical public health barrier that directly impacts the containment of deadly infectious diseases in vulnerable regions.
A severe shortage of clean water and sanitation facilities is undermining efforts to contain the Ebola outbreak in Mongbwalu, a gold-mining town in the Democratic Republic of the Congo's Ituri province, where residents struggle to maintain basic hygiene while facing the deadly virus.
Every morning, residents walk several kilometers with plastic containers to collect water from a nearby natural spring. Most families cannot afford public water taps, while local groundwater is often contaminated by runoff from nearby mines.
"Three water jugs cost 1,000 francs. If you have 10 jugs at home and only 1,000 francs left, plus children to feed, what do you do? That financial pressure is what forces us to walk miles every day to collect free spring water," said Francoise Ididi, a local resident.
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