In the heart of the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s fastest-expanding Ebola outbreak on record, caregivers and educators are pressing regional and national authorities to postpone the nationwide school reopening scheduled for September 1, warning that unchecked community spread continues to put children at catastrophic risk.
Centered in Congo’s eastern Ituri province, the ongoing outbreak has already reached staggering public health proportions: Congolese health authorities confirm 5,713 confirmed infections and 2,744 recorded deaths to date, with transmission outpacing all containment efforts. This epidemic, which official data traces back to February despite an official declaration in mid-May, has ballooned from three initial affected health zones to nearly 60 across the country, with the majority of new cases and deaths occurring in unmonitored community settings rather than clinical facilities. The World Health Organization has confirmed the outbreak remains fully out of control and is on track to surpass the 2014–2016 West Africa Ebola epidemic, the deadliest in recorded history that killed more than 11,000 people.
Comprehensive public health data from the outbreak reveals a particularly alarming risk for young children: kids aged 4 and under face a 60% case-fatality rate, the highest mortality rate of any age group impacted by the virus. This stark statistic has fueled growing calls from local stakeholders to delay the scheduled return to classrooms, even as many families and educators acknowledge the urgent need to resume interrupted learning.
“We want to get back to teaching, but not at the cost of our lives or the lives of our students,” said Fazila Rebecca, a primary school teacher based in Bunia, the capital of Ituri province, in an interview with the Associated Press. “As long as the virus is still circulating widely in our communities and sufficient protective measures are not in place, opening our school doors is a risk we simply cannot afford to take.”
On Tuesday, the Ituri regional teachers union held an emergency assembly in Bunia, formally calling on public health authorities to conduct a full, transparent assessment of current transmission rates before finalizing any decision on school reopening. “We are not against resuming classes — we just believe that the health and safety of every teacher and every student has to come first,” explained Budju Lobo Isaac, a representative for the union. Ituri authorities had not issued a public response to the union’s request or growing public pressure as of Thursday.
The current outbreak has been amplified by a perfect storm of systemic challenges: chronic regional insecurity from rebel violence, mass population displacement, a recent strike by frontline health workers, and constant cross-community population movement have all hampered containment efforts. Beyond logistical barriers, the strain of the outbreak is exacerbated by the fact that it is driven by the rare Bundibugyo Ebola virus, for which no widely approved vaccines or specific treatments currently exist. While clinical trials for experimental vaccines and therapeutics are already underway in the region, no fully vetted, large-scale intervention is available to stop transmission at this time. The Congolese government has noted that it is set to receive 70,000 doses of Ervebo, an Ebola vaccine that proved effective against previous outbreaks of other Ebola strains, though its effectiveness against Bundibugyo remains unconfirmed.
Widespread outbreak control measures, including limits on public gatherings, social distancing requirements, and regional airport closures, have already upended daily life across six affected provinces, particularly in Ituri, which has already been devastated by years of rebel conflict. While the national government has rolled out limited public health interventions, including the installation of basic sanitation equipment at high-traffic locations, child health advocacy groups say far more work is needed to both scale up protective resources and build community trust around public health guidance.
“Beyond practical logistical challenges, community buy-in remains the most critical piece of outbreak response,” noted Greg Ramm, country director for Save the Children in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. “Our immediate priority right now is to make sure every school, every teacher, and every family has the accurate public health information and personal protective resources they need to make the start of the school year as safe as possible for every child.”
For many parents in Bunia, the uncertainty around school reopening has created an impossible dilemma: many are eager to get their children back to structured learning after months of disruption, but fear the risk of viral exposure. “As a parent, I want my children in school — I know how important their education is,” said Espérance Dz’venga, who was purchasing school supplies for her children at Bunia’s central market this week. “But like every other parent, what I want most is for them to come home healthy at the end of the day. We are terrified that they will be exposed at school, and then bring the virus home to our whole families.”