The fight against a growing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is being severely hampered by acute food insecurity, deep-rooted public mistrust of health authorities, and sharp cuts to international aid funding, officials and aid workers have warned.

The outbreak, centred in Ituri province in northeastern DRC, has now surpassed 900 suspected cases and more than 220 suspected deaths, according to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. The situation was complicated from the outset because the virus spread undetected for weeks while health authorities initially tested for the far more common Zaire strain of Ebola, before realising the outbreak was caused by the much rarer Bundibugyo strain, which requires different containment protocols.

Food insecurity is emerging as a critical obstacle to containment. More than 26.5 million people across DRC already face acute hunger, and the World Food Programme's bureau chief for Ituri, Olivier Nkakudulu, explained the dangerous dynamic this creates.