The main border crossing between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda has reopened after months of closure, restoring a vital economic lifeline for the city of Goma even as health authorities battle an ongoing Ebola outbreak.

The crossing, which links Goma with the Rwandan city of Gisenyi, had been shut since May in an attempt to contain the spread of the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus. The decision to reopen was announced by the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel movement, which seized control of Goma and its surroundings and has since held sway over key transport routes.

For residents of Goma, the reopening is less a political milestone than a matter of survival. With the city’s airport closed since the rebel takeover, traders, porters and small business owners have depended almost entirely on cross-border traffic to earn a living. Crowds gathered at the frontier as barriers were lifted, many carrying sacks of goods or pushing bicycles laden with produce.

“Our lives depend on this border,” said goods courier Didier Mbombo, who ferries merchandise between markets in Goma and Gisenyi. “While it was closed, we were unable to provide for our families.”

Trader Joviale Bigombire described weeks of mounting hardship. “It had already been a month and a half since we could go to Rwanda,” she said. “Working was almost impossible. Today we can finally breathe again.”

Health officials remain on high alert. Although Goma has recorded at least one laboratory-confirmed case of the Bundibugyo virus, the city has so far escaped the worst of an epidemic that has devastated parts of Ituri province to the north, with more than 1,400 confirmed infections and over 400 deaths.

The World Health Organization has repeatedly urged governments not to close borders, warning that such measures can drive people to use informal crossings, complicating surveillance and contact tracing. Instead, health workers are focusing on screening travelers, tracing contacts and improving treatment capacity.

With Goma’s airport still shut, international travelers have been forced to journey overland to Kigali, Rwanda’s capital, to reach flights abroad, a route many consider safer than venturing deeper into conflict-affected areas of eastern Congo. “Since our airport in Goma is closed, people transited through Kigali to travel around the world,” said education inspector Ponchelin Monyo.

Researchers have begun clinical trials of an experimental drug targeting the Bundibugyo strain, offering a measure of hope. The virus currently has no licensed vaccine and no approved treatment, and it circulated undetected for weeks while laboratories initially tested for the more common Zaire strain of Ebola.