What Will It Take To Finally End Congo's Ebola Outbreak In 2020?
Last fall, Félix Tshisekedi, the president of Democratic Republic of Congo, made a triumphant prediction: Before 2019 was over, the Ebola outbreak that had ravaged his country for more than a year would finally be brought to a close. Already, health workers had managed to quash the Ebola virus in all but a small set of remaining hot zones. New infections had slowed to a trickle.
Then, on Nov. 28, unidentified armed men launched a series of attacks on the offices and living quarters of several Ebola response teams, killing three workers and forcing scores of others to evacuate. Within days, new Ebola infections were once again on the rise.
It was just the latest setback in an outbreak that has proved devilishly difficult to contain as it has unfolded in a part of Congo with a long history of conflict between the government and multiple armed groups. Since the epidemic was declared on Aug. 1, 2018, more than 3,300 people have been infected with Ebola, making the outbreak the worst on record for Congo, and the second worst in
