“The Gold Mines at the Heart of This Ebola Outbreak” - The New York Times (Declan Walsh / Arlette Bashizi), 5 June 2026

"For over a century, gold has been the lifeblood of Mongbwalu, a remote hill town in Ituri province that draws people looking for work from across Congo and beyond. But now Mongbwalu is at the epicenter of the devastating Ebola outbreak sweeping this region, and gold is helping to drive it. Experts now believe that the outbreak, already the third largest on record, began in Mongbwalu as early as February. Yet the authorities failed to detect it until May 15, in part because it was caused by a lesser-known virus, Bundibugyo, for which there is no treatment."

The gold economy is at the heart of why the virus spread so rapidly. The lure of lucrative wages draws a constant flow of workers, traders and smugglers from across Congo and neighbouring countries into close contact in the mines. "By the time a crisis was declared, the Bundibugyo virus had already been spreading for weeks through Mongbwalu's gold mines, among men who work cheek by jowl in rough conditions, trading gold that often crosses nearby borders." With gold prices hovering near historic highs, miners say stopping work is not an option. "We're still working from morning to evening. Nothing has changed," said one miner from North Kivu. Another, who handles mercury with his bare hands, said: "What can we do? We have no choice but to work."

Beyond artisanal mining, "Chinese operators run semi-industrial gold plants, government officials said. Last year, a British company called Horizon announced it was building a major new gold plant. 'We didn't come here to spend five years studying,' a Horizon executive told a packed public meeting in September. 'We came to build.'"