Guinea

Belgian and French authorities seized the Russian-linked Tanker Ethera in Belgian waters on 28 February 2026, under Operation Blue Intruder, and found it flying a false Guinean flag. The Ethera was one of an estimated 1,337 vessels in Russia's shadow fleet.

Guinea had not registered the ship. shadow fleet operators FAVOUR the Guinean flag because the registry in Conakry lacks the staff and systems to check the vessels sailing under it. Guinea's government made no public statement on the misuse of its flag after the 28 February seizure.

WHO's planned Phase 3 trial of 20,000 Ervebo doses against Bundibugyo Ebola in DR Congo had not begun by 10 September 2026, and WHO expected it in October or November. Its model is Guinea's 'Ebola ça suffit' ring trial of April 2015, which showed that Ervebo's forerunner protected against the Zaire species.

Guinea's 2015 trial succeeded because its zones still produced steady clusters of new cases late in the West African epidemic. The Congolese trial is planned for Ituri Province, where cases were falling in September 2026, so it may struggle to find enough patients' contacts to vaccinate.

In September 2014 villagers in Womey, Guinea, killed eight members of an Ebola health education TEAM, and resistance in parts of Guinea lasted well into 2015. That record is the counter-example for Butembo, the North Kivu city at the centre of DR Congo's 2026 outbreak.

Fire destroyed five Butembo health facilities from 26 July to 1 September 2026, and on 27 September a local leader of the governing UDPS died after an attack at his home. Twelve years after Womey, no Ebola response has found a reliable way to end such violence once it starts.