With the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the head of the World Health Organization warned this week that the country faces a “catastrophic collision” of disease and conflict. Ebola is a disease caused by a virus, and outbreaks between people start when somebody catches it from an infected animal. Ebola is rare but the symptoms are severe, often leading to death. To compound matters, not only is this area of central Africa badly affected by conflict, there is also not currently a vaccine for this strain of the virus. Two aid workers in the region share their experiences of containing the disease. We also hear from journalists tackling misinformation, and we meet Harriet in Liberia who contracted Ebola during a previous outbreak.
Published on Saturday, 30th May 2026.
Available Podcasts from The Documentary Podcast
Subscribe to The Documentary Podcast
We are not the BBC, we only list available podcasts. To find out more about the programme including episodes available on BBC iPlayer, go to the The Documentary Podcast webpage.