Ecosystem Health &
Pandemic Preparedness
The Congo Basin is one of the world’s most important biodiversity reservoirs, but it is also a region where the close interface between wildlife, humans, livestock, and rapidly changing ecosystems creates heightened risks for zoonotic disease emergence and transmission. Zoonotic diseases are illnesses that can spread between animals and humans, often with significant consequences for public health, wildlife conservation, and ecosystem stability.
The region has experienced repeated outbreaks of diseases such as Ebola virus disease, Marburg virus disease, mpox, and anthrax, all of which have affected human populations and, in some cases, wildlife species and broader ecological systems. Great apes are particularly vulnerable to pathogens of human origin due to their close genetic relationship with humans, while diseases such as anthrax can rapidly affect entire wildlife populations within savanna and forest ecosystems. In regions affected by conflict, displacement, weak health infrastructure, and increasing pressure on natural resources, outbreaks can spread rapidly and become difficult to contain.