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Ebola has now killed more than 5,000 people in DR Congo as hunger and war deepen across Africa and the Middle East
The deadliest Ebola outbreak in DR Congo's history keeps deepening. It has passed 5,000 deaths (BBC, 2 Nov 2026). It hits a country already at war in the east, where Rwanda-backed M23 still holds Goma and Bukavu. In Yemen, full-scale civil war has displaced more than 300,000 people as needs soar (IOM, 29 Oct 2026). In Gaza, a fragile ceasefire is broken by strikes that killed eight people, including a child, hospitals said (BBC, 30 Oct 2026). Drought now grips countries from Sudan to Haiti, according to global hazard monitoring (GDACS, 30 Oct 2026).
These crises worsen each other. Iran's war with the US and Israel has cut shipping through the Strait of Hormuz to about 3 ships a day, down 97 percent from a year earlier (IMF PortWatch, week 19–25 Oct 2026). Food, fuel and aid that normally move through Gulf waters now reroute at cost, and that cost lands on hungry families in East Africa and Yemen. Sudan needs 33.7 million people assisted in 2026 (OCHA) while its army and the RSF keep fighting. Aid agencies should pre-position food and medical supplies along Red Sea and African inland corridors now, and health teams should contain the Congo Ebola zone before movement spreads it.
Watch items
- DR Congo — Ebola spread from the eastern war zone to new provinces
- Yemen — West Coast fighting displaces more families from Hodeidah
- Gaza — Airstrikes and aid curbs push families back toward famine