As eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) battles another Ebola outbreak, Virunga National Park has intensified emergency health measures aimed at protecting both nearby communities and one of the world’s last remaining populations of endangered mountain gorillas.
The strengthened response follows the World Health Organization (WHO) declaration in May that the Ebola outbreaks affecting the DRC and neighbouring Uganda constitute a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, prompting authorities and conservation organisations to increase surveillance and disease prevention efforts.
Located in eastern DRC, Virunga National Park is Africa’s oldest national park and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, renowned for its rich biodiversity and its critical role in conserving endangered wildlife, including mountain gorillas. Beyond conservation, the park is increasingly serving as an important frontline in efforts to contain infectious diseases before they spread further across the region.
Park Expands Emergency Response
Virunga National Park has launched a series of public health interventions designed to slow the spread of Ebola while protecting the park’s ecosystem and neighbouring communities.
According to park authorities, six health checkpoints have been established within and around the protected area, which stretches approximately 300 kilometres (186 miles) across North Kivu Province.
The checkpoints are equipped to screen travellers entering and leaving areas surrounding the park through temperature checks, handwashing stations and health assessments.
Authorities have also established first-level isolation facilities near each checkpoint to enable rapid response whenever suspected Ebola cases are detected.
To support the emergency operation, the park has deployed 40 trained paramedics alongside 80 park rangers, who will participate in an initial six-month response programme.
Virunga Director-General Emmanuel de Merode said the protected forest acts as a natural barrier that limits human settlement and movement, helping reduce opportunities for the virus to spread into new areas.
He explained that while Ebola remains primarily a threat to human populations, protected areas such as Virunga can play an important role in slowing transmission because they contain vast stretches of forest with little permanent human habitation.
Lessons From Previous Ebola Outbreaks
Virunga officials say their current strategy is based on experience gained during the DRC’s devastating 10th Ebola outbreak between 2018 and 2020, one of the deadliest in the country’s history.
That outbreak claimed nearly 2,300 lives across North Kivu and Ituri provinces before it was eventually brought under control.
The country is now confronting what health authorities describe as its 17th Ebola outbreak, which has reportedly caused more than 1,400 deaths, making rapid containment a national priority.
De Merode said previous collaborations between the park and Congolese health authorities have strengthened surveillance systems, emergency coordination and disease monitoring.
According to him, response teams during the earlier outbreak credited Virunga’s vast protected forests with helping prevent wider transmission of Ebola into major urban centres such as Goma and other parts of the country.
He noted that while the national park contributes significantly to containment efforts, overall leadership of the Ebola response remains with the Congolese government and public health authorities, supported by international partners.
Health Checkpoints Monitor Travellers
Several checkpoints have been positioned along roads passing through or bordering Virunga National Park.
Officials say the facilities allow health workers to monitor movement between affected communities while identifying anyone showing possible symptoms of Ebola.
Travellers arriving from high-risk locations undergo temperature screening and other health assessments before continuing their journeys.
In Ituri Province, currently regarded as the epicentre of the outbreak, checkpoints located north and south of the provincial capital, Bunia, are screening individuals arriving from communities reporting Ebola infections.
Virunga authorities have also supplied health teams with protective clothing, digital thermometers, vehicles, body bags and other emergency equipment needed to support response operations.
According to park officials, two suspected Ebola cases have already been identified at the checkpoints and immediately referred to Congolese public health authorities for further testing and monitoring.
De Merode explained that information collected during screenings is transmitted directly to the Congolese National Institute of Public Health, enabling health officials to conduct contact tracing and monitor individuals who may have been exposed to the virus.
He said rapid identification and follow-up of suspected cases remain essential for preventing wider community transmission.
Protecting One of the World’s Rarest Great Apes
Beyond protecting human lives, the Ebola response also focuses on safeguarding Virunga’s internationally significant wildlife population.
The park is home to one of the world’s last surviving populations of mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei), a species classified as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Scientists estimate that only slightly more than 1,000 mountain gorillas remain worldwide across the Greater Virunga Landscape, which spans the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda and Uganda.
Virunga National Park protects a significant portion of that fragile population, making disease prevention a critical conservation priority.
Human Diseases Can Threaten Gorillas
Wildlife health experts warn that mountain gorillas are particularly vulnerable to diseases carried by humans because of their close genetic relationship.
Veterinarian Eddy Syaluha of Gorilla Doctors, a conservation organisation working across the DRC, Rwanda and Uganda, said mountain gorillas share more than 90 percent of their DNA with humans.
As a result, they can become infected with many of the same illnesses affecting people, including Ebola and respiratory diseases.
The biological similarity means even routine human interactions with gorillas require strict health precautions.
Conservationists therefore apply a One Health approach, recognising that human health, animal health and environmental protection are closely interconnected.
Prevention Remains the Best Defence
Despite repeated Ebola outbreaks in Central Africa over the past five decades, conservation experts say no mountain gorilla in Virunga National Park has ever contracted the virus.
Officials attribute that success to strict preventive measures, continuous veterinary monitoring and careful regulation of human access to gorilla habitats.
Visitors entering gorilla trekking areas undergo health screening, while veterinary teams regularly monitor the animals for any signs of illness.
Researchers note that previous Ebola outbreaks elsewhere in Central Africa devastated populations of western lowland gorillas, with some scientific studies recording mortality rates exceeding 90 percent.
Those experiences have reinforced the importance of preventing any possible transmission between infected humans and endangered great apes.
Syaluha said conservation teams remain on constant alert and are determined to prevent a similar tragedy from occurring in Virunga.
He explained that most preventive efforts are directed at reducing the risk of infected people transmitting diseases to gorillas before any exposure can occur.
Conservation and Public Health Working Together
Virunga National Park’s expanded Ebola response highlights the growing connection between conservation and public health.
Officials say protecting forests, wildlife and local communities increasingly requires integrated approaches that combine disease surveillance, environmental management and emergency medical response.
As eastern DRC continues working to contain the latest Ebola outbreak, authorities hope that strengthened cooperation between conservation agencies, health workers and government institutions will help save lives while preserving one of Africa’s most valuable ecosystems.
For Virunga, safeguarding both people and the endangered mountain gorillas that call the park home remains a shared mission as the region confronts another deadly public health challenge.
