At least 189 children have died from the Ebola outbreak declared on May 15 in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, while thousands require psychological support after witnessing illness and death in their communities, Save the Children warned on Wednesday.

Since the epidemic was declared in the province of Ituri, which borders Uganda and South Sudan and serves as the outbreak’s epicenter, 476 minors have contracted the disease, according to a statement from the organization. The child deaths represent approximately one-fifth of all confirmed fatalities recorded so far in this outbreak.

RELATED: African Health Authorities Urge U.S. to Lift Travel Restrictions to Uganda Amid Ebola Outbreak

Save the Children is currently providing psychosocial support to more than 4,000 children in Ituri, where the NGO has established safe spaces for play, rest, and recovery from fear, grief, and anxiety. The organization’s workers have observed that the disease has altered how some children interact, with many now avoiding close contact and maintaining physical distance from others.

The organization warned that some minors will require temporary care outside their families after being separated from parents or legal guardians due to illness, isolation, abandonment, or death.

Babou Rukengeza, the NGO’s Ebola response coordinator in the DRC, said that children in Ituri carry an enormous emotional burden, as many have witnessed violence, lost loved ones to the outbreak, or experienced repeated displacement.

Young children paying the highest price one month since DRC declared new #Ebola outbreak. “This outbreak is more than a health emergency, it is a wider social crisis" Greg Ramm @save_children Country Director in the #DRChttps://t.co/ZxpQcRzWQ6

— Save the Children Global Media (@Save_GlobalNews) June 15, 2026

Save the Children stressed that the outbreak constitutes a second crisis for many minors already displaced by violence in eastern Congo, a region affected for decades by conflict between armed groups and the army. The organization warned that prolonged stress during childhood can have lasting consequences on cognitive development, emotional well-being, and long-term physical and mental health if children do not receive adequate support.

According to the latest Congolese government bulletin, the DRC has registered 2,423 confirmed Ebola cases, including 967 deaths, placing the fatality rate at 39.9%. The outbreak corresponds to the Bundibugyo strain, which has a fatality rate ranging between 30% and 50% and for which there is no authorized vaccine or specific treatment, according to the World Health Organization.

The WHO considers the risk of the outbreak spreading in sub-Saharan Africa to be “high” and “low” globally.

This is the third worst Ebola epidemic in recorded history and marks the seventeenth outbreak to affect the DRC. The Ebola virus is transmitted through direct contact with bodily fluids of infected people or animals and causes severe hemorrhagic fever, vomiting, diarrhea, and internal bleeding.

From teleSUR English via This RSS Feed.