Ebola Survivors Offer Comfort to Children in Congo’s Isolation Wards
A former Ebola patient now holds and comforts children fighting the disease in an isolation ward in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where their parents
A former Ebola patient now holds and comforts children fighting the disease in an isolation ward in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where their parents cannot touch them. Jerkis Mahamba, 29, recovered after 18 days of treatment and returned to the same centre as a caregiver.
When a child cries, Mahamba puts on protective equipment and goes to their bedside. Some children need a hug or help settling back to sleep; others want someone to talk to. He tells them he has endured the illness, too, and urges them not to lose hope.
Care amid strict isolation
The ward is at Kitatumba Reference Hospital in Butembo, in North Kivu province. Mahamba contracted Ebola from a relative in September and recovered at the centre. His immunity to the strain circulating in Congo allows him to provide close contact that parents are not permitted to give.
He still wears protective gear and disinfects his clothing. Other survivors also support patients as companions and playmates, while some clean and disinfect rooms and equipment. A health official, identified as Selemani, said survivors can also help counter fear and stigma in their communities.
The response includes 13 caregivers supporting children at Kitatumba, all wearing full protective equipment. The aid group Doctors Without Borders has also set up areas where parents can see and communicate with hospitalized children. The arrangement cannot replace a parent’s presence, but offers children human contact during isolation.
A severe toll among children
Children face high risks. Nearly one in four confirmed Ebola cases in North Kivu involves a child under 5, and more than half of those young patients are infants under 1. At the Butembo treatment centre, 24 of 30 children admitted from June through September 2026 died; most were under 5. Many had first been hospitalized elsewhere for other illnesses.
The outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo virus. By Oct. 26, Congo had reported 10,141 confirmed cases and 4,928 related deaths, with community transmission ongoing across eight provinces. The wider outbreak has also reached Nigeria and Kenya, while a patient evacuated from Nigeria was taken to Switzerland.
For children in Butembo’s ward, the need is immediate: 24 of the 30 children admitted there between June and September died.
