After days of intense fighting, the humanitarian situation in Goma, capital of the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), has reached alarming levels – with humanitarian needs now massive and response capacities severely strained.

Aid teams from the UN World Health Organization ( WHO) “cannot move freely to support the hospitals, even ambulances cannot run. It’s a situation that in public health is a nightmare,” said Dr Boureima Hama Sambo, WHO Representive in DRC.

As UN agencies reported "relative calm" on Wednesday in the city of Goma in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), humanitarians warned that the chaos caused by advancing M23 rebel forces could fuel a region-wide health emergency.

Staff at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have been told to halt all communication with the World Health Organization.

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared a public health emergency of international concern in August 2024, a day after the Africa CDC declared a public health emergency of continental security for the clade 1b outbreak in the DRC, where the clade was first detected.

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

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

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.

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.

In line with Trump's executive order to end all collaboration with the WHO, the CDC has been instructed to end all communications and work with the international public health agency.

British foreign secretary laments lack of global attention to crises in Africa compared with conflicts in other regions - Anadolu Ajansı

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.