Lab holding Ebola in DRC's Goma at risk amid fighting: Red Cross

Red Cross warns of Ebola risk in DR Congo lab amid fighting, treating over 600 wounded civilians in Goma.

The Red Cross voiced alarm on Tuesday (January 28, 2025) over the risk that fighting in the besieged DR Congo city of Goma could cause samples of Ebola and other pathogens held in a laboratory to escape.

The International Committee of the Red Cross is "very concerned about the situation in the laboratory of the national biomedical research institute, which is facing a risk of power cuts", ICRC regional director for Africa Patrick Youssef said.

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Speaking to reporters in Geneva, he stressed the importance of "preserving the samples that may be affected by the clashes", warning of "unimaginable consequences if the (samples), including the Ebola virus, that it contains were to spread."

Ms. Youssef highlighted that the laboratory was "very close" to the ICRC delegation in Goma but he had no information about the safety of other labs in the city.

The main city in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has become a battleground since fighters from the Tutsi-led M23 armed group and Rwandan forces entered central Goma on Sunday after a weeks-long advance.

The mineral rich east of the vast central African country has been by plagued by fighting between armed groups, backed by regional rivals, since the 1994 Rwandan genocide.