Gold and the Ebola Outbreak in Congo’s Mining Towns

Mining has been crucial to Mongbwalu, a remote town in the Democratic Republic of Congo, for decades. It now plays a role in the spread of a severe Ebola outbreak. Recently, Red Cross workers handled the body of a gold miner, Mumbere Saidi, who succumbed to the disease in this town, highlighting the crisis.

Declan Walsh and Arlette Bashizi reported from Mongbwalu, the outbreak’s epicenter, providing first-hand information about the situation.

After an attack by a local Islamic State affiliate on his farm, Mumbere Saidi fled to the northeastern Congo gold mines. He traveled 200 miles through a dangerous war zone. There, he undertook grueling work in a mining town, panning for gold. During better times, Saidi, 27, sent some money to his parents. During tough times, he struggled to support his wife and baby daughter.

His sense of safety vanished last week when he contracted the Ebola virus. “The disease got him,” said his brother, Kondu Ganda, another miner, referring to Ebola by a euphemism common in a town where many avoid using its name. Red Cross workers in protective suits later removed Mr. Saidi’s body from their mud-walled home.

For more than a century, gold mining has been the backbone of Mongbwalu, attracting workers from Congo and beyond. But now, the town finds itself at the heart of a severe Ebola outbreak, which gold mining helps exacerbate.

Experts say that the outbreak, now the third largest recorded, might have started in Mongbwalu as early as February. Authorities did not detect it until May 15. This delay was partly because it was caused by the Bundibugyo virus, which is less known, and currently has no available treatment.