We urge all parties to protect health and humanitarian staff, patients and health facilities,' says Tedros - Anadolu Ajansı

A potential Ebola outbreak has been reported in the DRC, at a time when the Trump administration has paused communication with the WHO.

Rebels appear to be edging closer to taking control of the key city of Goma in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo following reports that they had captured its airport.

The area was also the epicentre of an outbreak of a new strain of mpox, declared a public health emergency of international concern in August 2024. Dr. Marschang warned that the new wave of displacement will make it increasingly hard to track and treat the disease.

Japan has sent the Democratic Republic of the Congo 50,000 doses of a vaccine against mpox, previously known as monkeypox.

Situation in Goma particularly dire, with fighting damaging water and electricity systems, forcing residents to rely on unsafe sources like lake water, says emergency response coordinator - Anadolu Aj

Looting of humanitarian aid infrastructure has further hindered relief efforts, and thousands have fled their homes, adding to the growing refugee crisis.

One woman who was carrying her child and a few belongings told the BBC's Great Lakes service: “Bombs from clashes kept falling near us, one fell on my neighbour’s house, killing her and her six children, that’s when I decided to flee."

A rebel alliance claimed the capture of the biggest city in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s mineral-rich eastern region this week, pushing back against resistance from government troops backed by regional and UN intervention forces.

Advances being made by the M23 rebel group in the Democratic Republic of Congo are "heightening the threat of a regional war," according to U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

Fighting between Rwanda-backed rebels and the Congolese army continued for a second day in Goma on Tuesday amid calls by African leaders for an immediate ceasefire.

The French, US, Rwandan, Ugandan and Kenyan embassies in Democratic Republic of Congo's capital Kinshasa were attacked by protesters, a European diplomatic source said.