For the first time in an Ebola response, health officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo are using anonymised mobile phone data to predict where the virus could appear next, IT News Africa reported.
A fast-growing outbreak
The WHO describes the outbreak, declared on 15 May 2026 in Ituri province, as the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak on record. By 21 September the DRC had reported 7,773 confirmed cases and 3,759 deaths across seven provinces. It is caused by the Bundibugyo virus, for which there is no approved vaccine or treatment, so early detection is critical.
How the phone data helps
Every time a phone connects to the network, the mast it uses is recorded. Looking at millions of these records together shows how groups of people travel between towns, without identifying anyone. Vodacom, the DRC’s largest operator, provides the data free of charge, and Flowminder, a Swedish non-profit, receives only aggregated, anonymised figures.
- Flowminder’s first study tracked where people who had been in the first hotspots in April travelled next. By the end of June, all 10 of the top destinations had reported confirmed cases.
- In mid-June the data showed a high risk for Kisangani, a major Congo River transport hub. The WHO strengthened its operations there before the first cases were detected.
- The analysis has also flagged strong travel links to Kinshasa and to areas near the borders with the Central African Republic and South Sudan.
The limits
The data currently comes from one network. Vodacom has about 35% of the market, so people on Airtel, Orange and Africell are missed, and cross-border travel is only partly visible. Flowminder and UN officials say they are negotiating with other operators.
Why it matters
Nigeria used mobile tools such as SMS alerts and reporting apps during the 2014 Ebola outbreak, and again during COVID-19. The DRC’s approach shows how telecom data, handled with strict privacy safeguards, can give health workers days or weeks of warning. Any similar effort in Nigeria would need to comply with the Nigeria Data Protection Act.
Source: IT News Africa, citing the WHO, Reuters and Flowminder.
