Border between DR Congo and Rwanda reopens amid Ebola outbreak

The border between The Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda reopened late Thursday after being closed since May over the ongoing Ebola outbreak, bringing much-needed relief to residents of Goma, the capital of eastern Congo.

The reopening was announced in a press release Thursday by the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels, who seized Goma early last year.

The city's airport has been closed since the takeover, leaving Goma largely dependent economically on cross-border traffic between the two countries. "We are truly happy to see the border reopened today because our lives depend on it. While the border was closed, we were unable to provide for our families," said Didier Mbombo, a goods courier. Joviale Bigombire, a trader, said working had been difficult without being able to cross the border.

"I am delighted by the reopening of the border crossing because it had already been a month and a half since we could go to Rwanda," she said. Though Goma has had at least one laboratory-confirmed case of the Bundibugyo virus, it has been largely spared from the outbreak that has ravaged Ituri province to the north.

So far, the outbreak has caused more than 1,400 confirmed cases and more than 400 deaths. The World Health Organization has advised against closing borders, saying it will only hamper the Ebola response. With Goma's airport shut, people wanting to travel internationally have had to go to the Rwandan capital, Kigali, which offered the safest access to an international airport.

Traveling further into Congo meant crossing the front lines of a conflict that has raged for three decades. "Since our airport in Goma is closed, people transited through Kigali to travel around the world," said Ponchelin Monyo, an education inspector. Trials began Thursday for a drug that researchers hope could work as a treatment for Ebola caused by the Bundibugyo virus.

The virus has no vaccine and no approved treatment. It spread undetected for weeks as health authorities tested for the more common Zaire virus.