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Reorienting Ebola care toward human-centered sustainable practice

Nature Medicine (2026)Cite this article

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The recent Ebola outbreak in the Bulape health zone, Kasai Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo, underscores both persistent challenges and emerging opportunities in outbreak responses. The rapid scale-up of responses with short-term interventions and heavy reliance on externally supported logistics has often failed to build sustained capacity or community trust1.

In Bulape, collaboration by the Ministry of Health, the World Health Organization, Médecins Sans Frontières, the United Nations World Food Programme and other partners led to a new approach for clinical care that strengthens patient care, reinforces local systems and promotes a more sustainable, patient-centered model of care.

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Fig. 1: Modular design of the Bulape Ebola treatment center.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the first responders, health workers and members of the Bulape community, whose dedication and collaboration made this response possible. Their commitment to care, safety and trust-building stands at the heart of this work. The authors alone are responsible for the views expressed in this article and they do not necessarily represent the views, decisions or policies of the institutions with which they are affiliated.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre des Opérations d’Urgence de Santé Publique, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo

    Richard Kitenge Omasumbu

  2. World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland

    Luca Fontana, Olivier le Polain de Waroux & Janet Diaz

  3. Médecins Sans Frontières, Paris, France

    Kerry Dierberg

  4. World Health Organization, Regional Office for Africa, Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo

    Mory Keita

Authors
  1. Richard Kitenge Omasumbu
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  2. Luca Fontana
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  3. Olivier le Polain de Waroux
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  4. Janet Diaz
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  5. Kerry Dierberg
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  6. Mory Keita
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Luca Fontana.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Omasumbu, R.K., Fontana, L., le Polain de Waroux, O. et al. Reorienting Ebola care toward human-centered sustainable practice. Nat Med (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-025-04174-9

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