The ongoing Ebola epidemic in eastern Congo is severely exacerbating food insecurity across a nation already facing one of the most critical humanitarian emergencies globally, according to the head of the United Nations food agency.
Carl Skau, the acting executive director of the World Food Program, characterized the situation as a “crisis on top of a crisis” while touring Ituri province.
”It was already catastrophic when it comes to food and security. Some five million people are in emergency levels of food insecurity and there are also pockets of disaster level food insecurity. Now with the Ebola crisis, this is getting worse,” he said.
Skau noted that disruptions caused by Ebola to local commercial markets and trade routes have made it even harder for residents to access food.
Persistent conflict in eastern Congo has pushed close to 10 million individuals into emergency or crisis levels of hunger. The World Food Program reports that Ituri province, which sits at the center of the Ebola outbreak, is among the hardest hit areas, accounting for 1.9 million of those suffering from extreme hunger.
The agency further noted that across roughly 48 health zones impacted by Ebola, over 2.7 million residents are experiencing acute food insecurity, with 628,000 living under emergency conditions.
In response, the U.N. food body has provided more than 160,000 hot meals to health workers, patients, and exposed contacts across 17 isolation and treatment facilities.
Ensuring direct food delivery is essential, Skau emphasized, warning that without reliable aid, people “will continue to be more concerned about what to eat tomorrow than to follow the guidance that they are provided in terms of the Ebola crisis.”
Recognized as the fastest-spreading outbreak on record, the current Ebola epidemic has reached 3,360 confirmed infections and 1,487 fatalities since it was officially declared on May 15.
Authorities caution that the virus is outpacing tracking efforts by health teams, even as emergency response operations continue to scale up.
