Aid workers rushed supplies yesterday to the centre of Congo’s outbreak of a rare type of Ebola virus, while beleaguered medical personnel struggled with a lack of equipment, a distrustful population and armed groups in a volatile region.

A white cargo plane carrying aid donated by the European Union delivered masks, gloves, boots and medication — all in short supply — to the north-eastern town of Bunia, at the heart of the outbreak in Congo’s Ituri province. UN-branded forklifts lifted several cases on to trucks.

Health workers with scant supplies have been struggling to contain an outbreak of the Bundibugyo virus, a strain of Ebola for which there is no approved treatment or vaccine. In some areas, doctors have resorted to using expired medical masks while treating suspected patients.