Bunia, Democratic Republic of the Congo – As Ebola cases continue to emerge in eastern DRC, Virunga National Park, Africa’s oldest national park, is enhancing health measures to protect local communities and endangered mountain gorillas.

These efforts are part of the park’s emergency response following the World Health Organization's declaration in May of the Ebola outbreak in DRC and neighboring Uganda as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.

Emmanuel de Merode, director-general of Virunga National Park, told Al Jazeera that protected areas like Virunga act as barriers to the spread of the disease, which primarily threatens human populations. He noted that Virunga previously supported containment efforts during the DRC’s 10th Ebola outbreak from 2018 to 2020, which resulted in nearly 2,300 deaths in North Kivu and Ituri provinces.

De Merode expressed confidence that the park can again help slow transmission during the current 17th outbreak, which has killed more than 1,400 people according to Congolese health authorities. He said, "We have supported the health service with protective equipment, body bags, thermometers and vehicles because, when the disease first broke out, the health services faced real difficulties, particularly in North Kivu."

Reflecting on the 2018-2020 response, de Merode said members of the outbreak response committee considered Virunga a significant factor in limiting the virus's spread. "The response committee at the time noted that the fact the disease never widely spread to Goma or to other parts of the country was also due to Virunga National Park, which was considered a major factor in preventing the disease from spreading southwards or eastwards," he added.

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