Fear gripped the gold-mining town of Rwampara on 14 May as the death toll reached 136 people while health officials admitted they are currently chasing a silent ghost. They now believe the virus spread for many weeks across the province before anyone in the health ministry noticed the true scale of the danger.
A taxi rider in his late twenties says the situation is dire as he waits for passengers near the gold mines. "Ebola has tortured us," he told local reporters while looking at the empty market stalls in the dusty streets.
He is scared.
Dr. Samuel Roger Kamba visited Ituri province over the weekend and warned that health teams are playing catch-up with a virus that likely arrived on 24 April. The first suspected victim was a nurse in Bunia who was later buried in Mongwalu.
But the response is slow.
This outbreak involves the Bundibugyo strain, which often mimics malaria symptoms and prevents people from reporting their illness to the authorities until it is too late. Officials registered 514 suspected cases by Tuesday.
The virus moved in secret.
One person also died across the border in Uganda. Now, cases are appearing in Goma and Butembo, which are large cities with hundreds of thousands of residents.
In Mongwalu, some families blamed witchcraft for the sudden deaths and called it the "coffin phenomenon" because they believed touching a casket triggered a lethal curse. And deaths are rising.
This belief kept many from seeking medical help in the early days. M23 rebels control Goma, which makes the health response much harder for the government while the healthcare systems in the region are already failing.
Save the Children says the crisis hits a region already broken by war. The US government pledged $13m in emergency aid on Monday to help contain the spread in both DR Congo and neighbouring Uganda.
And now they are evacuating an American doctor from Nyakunde Hospital who tested positive for the virus after treating patients. Dr. Peter Stafford worked alongside his wife and a colleague.
The WHO declared a global emergency on Sunday after cases were confirmed on 15 May. But the cities still lack treatment centers and residents say they are fighting for survival every day.
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