Bunia, Democratic Republic of the Congo – As Ebola instances proceed to emerge within the jap Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Virunga Nationwide Park – Africa’s oldest – is strengthening well being measures to guard communities and the endangered mountain gorillas residing in it.
The measures are a part of the park’s emergency response after the World Well being Group (WHO) declared the Ebola outbreak within the DRC and neighbouring Uganda a Public Well being Emergency of Worldwide Concern in Might.
“It’s a horrible illness and one which poses a menace at the start to human populations. Protected areas equivalent to Virunga Nationwide Park are huge pure areas the place there are not any human populations. They act as limitations to the unfold of the illness,” Emmanuel de Merode, director-general of Virunga Nationwide Park, informed Al Jazeera.
Virunga beforehand supported efforts to include the DRC’s tenth Ebola outbreak between 2018 and 2020, which killed practically 2,300 folks in North Kivu and Ituri provinces. De Merode believes the park can once more contribute to slowing transmission throughout the nation’s seventeenth outbreak, which has killed greater than 1,400 folks, in line with Congolese well being authorities.
Rangers and well being staff be a part of the response
The park has established six well being checkpoints inside and round its territory, a 300km (186-mile) stretch of protected forest that park officers describe as a pure barrier throughout North Kivu. It has additionally deployed 40 paramedics alongside 80 rangers as a part of an preliminary six-month emergency response.
De Merode informed Al Jazeera the checkpoints on roads crossing the park enable authorities to watch motion via the protected space.
“We’re organising checkpoints, which act as roadblocks, along with well being items for handwashing and temperature screening, and a first-level isolation centre subsequent to every checkpoint,” he mentioned.
In Ituri province, the epicentre of the outbreak, checkpoints north and south of Bunia, the provincial capital, are screening travellers arriving from areas affected by Ebola.
“Now we have supported the well being service with protecting tools, physique baggage, thermometers and autos as a result of, when the illness first broke out, the well being companies confronted actual difficulties, notably in North Kivu,” de Merode mentioned.
Virunga, a United Nations Instructional, Scientific and Cultural Group (UNESCO) World Heritage Web site since 1980, is positioned in a area that has skilled greater than 20 years of armed battle. Greater than 800 rangers defend the park, which is residence to various the world’s most threatened species.
A wider function within the Ebola response
De Merode mentioned expertise from earlier outbreaks has strengthened cooperation between Virunga and Congolese well being authorities, notably in surveillance and early detection.
Reflecting on the 2018-2020 Ebola response, he mentioned members of the outbreak response committee thought of Virunga an essential think about limiting the unfold of the virus.
“The response committee on the time famous that the actual fact the illness by no means broadly unfold to Goma or to different elements of the nation was additionally as a consequence of Virunga Nationwide Park, which was thought of a significant component in stopping the illness from spreading southwards or eastwards,” he mentioned.
De Merode burdened that Virunga stays just one a part of a wider response led by Congolese well being authorities and supported by technical and monetary companions.
“All the knowledge collected at our checkpoints is instantly transmitted to the Congolese Nationwide Institute of Public Well being for follow-up,” he mentioned.
In Ituri province, three checkpoints managed by the Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation inside Virunga are screening travellers arriving from areas most uncovered to Ebola.
Park officers say two suspected instances have been recognized on the checkpoints and referred to public well being authorities for monitoring.
“If, sadly, instances do come up past the checkpoint, we’re capable of hint them and all of the contacts who have been travelling with them, and this permits us to watch any potential instances which may be on the transfer,” de Merode mentioned.
The menace to the world’s remaining mountain gorillas
Mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei) are amongst Virunga Nationwide Park’s most iconic species. Categorized as endangered by the Worldwide Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), their inhabitants is estimated at simply above 1,000 throughout the Larger Virunga Panorama, which spans the DRC, Rwanda and Uganda.
The DRC is residence to a major share of the world’s remaining mountain gorillas, with Virunga defending one of many final populations of those nice apes.
Eddy Syaluha, a veterinarian with Gorilla Medical doctors, a conservation organisation working to guard the well being of nice apes within the DRC, Rwanda and Uganda, informed Al Jazeera that the shut organic relationship between people and mountain gorillas makes them weak to illnesses carried by folks.
![Motorbike riders have their temperatures checked by a Virunga National Park health agent at an Ebola screening checkpoint in northern Bunia, Democratic Republic of the Congo. [Prosper Heri Ngorora/Al Jazeera]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/1007094932-1785575652.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C578&quality=80)
“Mountain gorillas share greater than 90 % of their DNA with people, which implies they’re inclined to most of the similar infectious illnesses, together with Ebola and respiratory diseases,” he mentioned.
Syaluha mentioned the dangers underline the significance of a One Well being method, which recognises that human, animal and environmental well being are interconnected.
Preserving Ebola away from the forest
Regardless of repeated Ebola outbreaks within the area over the previous 5 many years, Syaluha mentioned no mountain gorilla has ever been contaminated with the virus in Virunga Nationwide Park or elsewhere within the DRC.
He mentioned conservation groups proceed to watch gorilla well being and display screen guests to scale back the chance of human-to-animal transmission. Earlier Ebola outbreaks have proven the devastating impression the virus can have on nice apes, with some research documenting mortality charges above 90 % amongst western lowland gorilla populations in Central Africa.
Syaluha mentioned the shut relationship between people and nice apes makes prevention and surveillance important to retaining Ebola away from Virunga’s gorillas.
“We’re doing every thing we will to make sure that what occurred in different international locations doesn’t occur to our gorillas right here,” he mentioned.
“We’re focusing totally on preventive measures centred on people to stop transmission to our gorillas. We frequently monitor the well being of our gorillas to stay on excessive alert.”
