How Ebola Outbreak Is Testing Congo After US Aid Cuts: Explainer

Ebola is one of the deadliest diseases on Earth. With a fatality rate as high as 90%, it’s among a handful of illnesses so dangerous that governments consider them threats to national security.

A new outbreak in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo has raised fears the virus could spread across the country’s porous borders and prove harder to contain because it involves the rare Bundibugyo strain, for which there are no approved vaccines or antibody treatments.

Congo has extensive experience responding to Ebola outbreaks. But years of conflict in the country’s east, weak infrastructure and growing strain on global health ...