The Democratic Republic of the Congo is battling a catastrophic collision of a public health emergency of International concern and severe political turmoil, creating the country's deadliest and fastest-growing Ebola epidemic on record. The World Health Organization reports that the rare, highly fatal Bundibugyo strain-for which no approved vaccine or treatment exists-has caused nearly 9,000 confirmed cases and over 4,300 deaths, primarily concentrated in the conflict-ridden eastern provinces of Ituri and North Kivu. The health emergency has been severely exacerbated by a dramatic political escalation, on Tuesday the former DRC President Joseph Kabila launched a new political-military coalition called the Front for the Refoundation of the Nation (FRN) at his residence in Goma, partnering with the M23 rebel groups. 

To get update and to unpack the situation in the DRC, we spoke to our Correspondent in the DRC, Jimmy Shukrani Bakonera