‘Every health facility said they were full’: alarm over rapid spread of Ebola in DRC

New strain of virus, aid cuts, and cultural norms around burials and touch add to difficulties in stemming outbreak

The warnings from aid groups and healthcare workers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have been stark, their calls for coordinated international action impassioned.

As the country reels from the return of the Ebola virus, there is growing concern that its fragile healthcare system will struggle to cope with an outbreak that experts say goes well beyond the number of confirmed cases.