It envisions reframing the epidemic as a regional humanitarian crisis, not simply a health emergency. That may include more troops or police to quell the murders and arson that have made medical work difficult, as well as food aid to win over sceptical locals.

The Democratic Republic of Congo also plans to deploy a second vaccine to form a protective “curtain” of immunity around outbreak areas.

The outbreak, which began a year ago in Congo and was declared a global health emergency this month, is now the second-biggest in history, with more than 2,600 cases and more than 1,750 dead. It has persisted in part because of a fierce but hidden power struggle within Congo’s government for control of the response, according to documents obtained by The New York Times and interviews with Ebola experts.

The country’s health minister, Dr Oly Ilunga, resigned on Monday after a public dispute with donors at a meeting in Geneva over whether to roll out the second vaccine, which he opposed. The containment effort will no longer be overseen by the health ministry but by an expert committee reporting directly to Congo’s new president, Felix Tshisekedi.

Ilunga was the target of a scathing internal government report produced in April, just as new cases began soaring above 100 per week. The report was written by a commission convened by Congo’s new president, some of whose members are now overseeing the response.

The report said “arrogant” national health officials took “an aggressive and ostentatious attitude” when they visited the outbreak area, renting deluxe hotel rooms and expensive cars and “brandishing large dollar bills” while local health workers went unpaid.

A spokeswoman for Ilunga called the report “weak.” She said he had resigned not because of it, but because the president had split the authority to oversee the response between his office and an independent commission, which she claimed was a violation of the Congolese constitution.

Ilunga’s departure pleased some donors and agencies supporting the fight against Ebola. The United States is by far the biggest donor. Tibor P Nagy, the State Department’s top official for African affairs, told a Senate subcommittee Wednesday that Ilunga’s resignation “may be an improvement to the situation.”

The country is seeking $288 million to implement its new Ebola strategy, and is likely to get it. The World Bank recently offered $300 million. The United States increased its previous giving by $38 million this week, and federal aid officials have said they are committed to containing the outbreak at its source.

The new plan may include a campaign to win the hearts of the traumatised population in the isolated eastern provinces by immunising them against other diseases, treating children for parasites, handing out food and even creating thousands of jobs. Experts hope efforts will be made to negotiate a truce with local militias.

The health ministry’s strategic plan for the period from July to December, written in cooperation with the WHO, has not been officially released but is circulating among the donors and health agencies, and a copy was obtained by The Times. While it envisions a much broader response, the plan is vague on specifics — omitting even references to which vaccines should be used.

By contrast, the commission’s report in April endorsed the second vaccine by name and called for many specific actions, like giving hot meals to malnourished children. Because its main authors are now leading the response, experts expect those steps will be taken.

In May, the United Nations’ response made a similar shift. David Gressly, formerly the deputy head of the UN peacekeeping mission in Congo, was put in charge of all UN efforts to address the epidemic, which had been run by the World Health Organization.

Even though the WHO and many donors endorsed the new vaccine, made by Johnson & Johnson, in May, Ilunga vigorously opposed using it. He said it would confuse the populace and be difficult to administer, since it requires two doses given 56 days apart.

To avoid confusion, it will be deployed differently from the current single-dose Merck vaccine. While that one is used to “ring-vaccinate” everyone around each known case, the new vaccine will be used in areas further away to encircle the hot zones with immunised people.

For example, while the Merck vaccine has been given to Ugandan health workers on the Congo border, the new one will be deployed in Mbarara, a regional capital 60 miles away with a big hospital that ill patients might travel to.

Close to 200,000 doses of the Merck vaccine have been distributed. The company has plans to produce 800,000, but some experts fear shortages, especially if the virus escapes into South Sudan, which is as dysfunctional and war-torn as eastern Congo.

Johnson & Johnson has offered 500,000 doses; the vaccine is easier to store and has been tested for safety on 6,000 human volunteers, but has not been deployed in the field.