Protean Therapy

Ebola: that terrible disease in a land far, far away where you want it to stay. But there’s more to Ebolavirus than that. And some of the reasons for its spread may concern you.

Why most of us don’t worry about Ebola:

Ebola may have jumped from bat populations to humans in the 1970s. On average, Ebolavirus kills about half of the people it infects. So, the probability of surviving Ebolavirus is similar to a coin flip…

Orthoebolavirus (i.e. Ebolavirus) is a class of pathogens that spreads through contact with the body fluids of an infected host. A bare minimum of universal (e.g. handwashing before + after), contact (gowns + gloves), and droplet (mask + face shield) precautions are used around individuals being tested or treated. All parts of the body should be shielded from any potential contact with the infected host’s body fluids at all times, especially while donning/doffing personal protected equipment (PPE).

Four (Zaire, Sudan, Bundibugyo, & Taï Forest) of the six known strains of Ebolavirus infect humans. In May of 2026, Ebola Bundibugyo which is less deadly than Ebola Zaire crossed into Uganda from the conflict-ridden region of the Democratic Republic of Congo. But the only available Ebolavirus vaccine (rVSV-ZEBOV, Ervebo) protects against Ebola Zaire not Ebola Bundibugyo.

Congo Conflict: What most don’t know…

There is a long history of colonial violence and civil conflict in the Congo. The Center for Preventative Action & Panzi Foundation (2026) estimate approximately 6 million lives have been lost as a result of intermittent conflicts in the Democratic Republic of Congo since the 1990s (see Coghlan et al., 2007). The most recent conflict that emerged in 2022 caused hundreds to thousands of deaths when the March 23 Movement (M23) captured the city of Goma in 2025.

Aljazeera (2025) and Doctors without Borders (2026) report numerous militia groups active in the region: M23 (Rwanda-backed Tutsi-rebel group), AFC (militia allied with M23), FARDC (Congo’s military), FDLR (Hutu militia), Wazalendos (pro-government vigilante groups), CODECO (Lendu militia), ISIS & ADF (radical Islamist militias), and MONUSCO (United Nations). If you can make sense of those groups, please share your insights. My point here is that eight different armed groups in the one region is a recipe for violence and instability.

Ebola Bundibugyo & the Congo Conflict:

Living things (viruses, bats, humans, etc.) struggle to survive long enough to replicate themselves. Those struggles often involve fights over living space and its resources. And those fights often afford opportunities to unexpected agents.

In Eastern Europe during World War II, those agents were the pathogens causing typhus, tularemia, tuberculosis, and dysentery. In 1994 Rwanda, those agents were the pathogens that cause dysentery, cholera, malaria, and AIDS. And in Eastern Congo in 2026, that agent is Bundibugyo. Congo’s conflict is a boon for Bundibugyo.

The contagion-conflict conundrum is…

• (1) Local (endemic) pathogens struggle to survive and replicate.
• (2) Conflict increases host availability by stressing host immunity, degrading shelter/sanitation, and concentrating hosts (e.g. people) near pathogens.
• (3) Pathogens infect hosts.

These are familiar problems with different characters. The problems are epidemics and conflicts. The current characters are Ebola Bundibugyo virus, the aforementioned militias, and all of the people/nations supporting them.

Lebensraum: How “More” Leads to War…

If you’ve studied World War II history, you probably know that Hitler justified the start of the Second World War, and the deaths of millions, as a quest for living space (“Lebensraum”). You may also know that he sealed his fate, and the deaths of millions more, when he decided to invade the Soviet Union. You may not know that diseases like typhus helped ensure the defeat of Nazi Germany. It is hard to win a war on multiple fronts, especially when one of those fronts is the fight against infectious disease.

Disease acts as a third front in all conflicts. Typhus, tuberculosis, malaria, and dysentery were hostile to all humans in the second world war. Like Eastern Europe in 1941, Eastern Congo’s militias, public health professionals, and civilians are surrounded by conflict in 2026. And like other infectious diseases, Ebola Bundibugyo spreads to any potential host, regardless of one’s race, nationality, or political affiliations.

Similar to 1939 Germany, 1994 Rwanda was rife with calls for more land and resources. Scholars suggest population density and extractive economics may have contributed to the genocide in Rwanda (Acemoglu & Robinson, 2012; Diamond, 2005). Limited land access, corrupt politics, and prejudiced propaganda helped cause the genocide that killed 800,000 people in 100 days (Boudreaux, 2009; Magnarellav, 2002; Yanagizawa-Drott; 2012).

The genocide in Rwanda led to the first and second Congo Wars which led to the latest Congo conflict and Ebolavirus outbreak. You may not have to worry about contracting Ebolavirus if you don’t live or work in central Africa. But you may want to worry about those who are caught between these far away diseases and conflicts. Because if extractive economics, corrupt politics, and racist propaganda reach you, conflict and disease may follow.

The solution to the contagion-conflict conundrum is to break the chains of pathogenicity and violence. A prompt, proactive, and productive international response can neutralize infectious disease outbreaks and the conflicts that stoke them. But such responses may require more public health awareness and political support for the mitigation of pathogenicity and violence.

Note: The Ebola Bundibugyo outbreak is highly fluid. See CDC or WHO for updates.

Sources:

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