Ebola comes to Congo’s most vulnerable children
An Ebola outbreak that quickly spread to the most vulnerable people in the country was sparked when a sick newborn was taken to the St Nicholas Orphanage in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Local health officials are now monitoring the children’s home but at least two babies have died already.
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These Congolese kids are returning to the world after five days of isolation. It is their first year of life and they are at the centre of a deadly Ebola outbreak.
All the children are orphans, brought to this hospital after showing symptoms of the virus.
He has just tested negative and is being moved to a temporary home. But at least two other infants from the same orphanage have died. What happened to them was a worst-case scenario for health officials trying to stop Ebola from spreading to young children.
The alarm was raised at the St Nicholas Children’s Home here in late May following the arrival of a newborn girl, Patience, who immediately developed a fever. We toured the orphanage, which houses about 70 children and their carers.
A paediatrician followed the case of Baby Patience’s mother and discovered that she had Ebola when she died. A few days later, Dhairya also died. She was 9 days old.
This image was one of the last photographs taken while he was alive. It is unclear whether the family knew she could be infected.
The relative who brought him to St Nicholas refused to talk to us when we contacted him on the phone. By the time anyone at the orphanage realised the danger, some of the staff had taken over Dhairya and were looking after her. Soon, more children began showing symptoms of the virus.
When we visited the Ebola treatment ward, this 10-month-old boy seemed to be getting better. Sister Cécile Nube, one of three staff members at the orphanage who also tested positive, cared for Baby Elysee.
Even when she was ill herself, Sister Nube stayed with Elise, feeding her, giving her medicine, and caring for her. Elysee died 24 hours after we met her. It’s a reminder of how quickly illness can change, especially for infants. Now Saint Nicholas is in quarantine. Every day, contact tracers visit the orphanage, checking the children and their carers for fever.
“Some of them have a little high temperature today, but they’re okay for now.” The worry is that one infection here could soon turn into several. “It could have been a recipe for disaster. It’s a very classic situation where Ebola can devastate a community rapidly. They’re playing together and they’re spending the whole dayÂ
So it’s spreading from person to person. And in no time, the whole community will be infected. “At present, the orphanage is under surveillance. It is still a haven for children who need shelter and care, even as every new symptom raises fears that the virus is still spreading.
13 June 2026
