An Ebola treatment tent in eastern Congo has been set ablaze for the second time in a week, resulting in the escape of 18 individuals suspected of carrying the virus, according to local hospital officials.
Incident Details
Unidentified assailants targeted a clinic in Mongbwalu, a town at the epicentre of the Bundibugyo virus outbreak—a rare strain of Ebola—on Friday night. They set fire to a tent operated by the charity Doctors Without Borders, which housed suspected and confirmed cases, said Dr. Richard Lokudi, director of the Mongbwalu General Reference Hospital.
“We strongly condemn this act, as it caused panic among the staff of the Mongbwalu Referral Hospital and also resulted in the escape of 18 suspected cases into the community,” he told the Associated Press.
Previous Attack
This follows an earlier incident on Thursday, when a treatment centre in Rwampara was burned down after family members were prevented from retrieving the body of a local man. The bodies of Ebola victims remain highly contagious, and traditional burial practices can accelerate the spread of the virus. Authorities are managing burials under high security, often facing protests from grieving relatives.
Heightened Security and Restrictions
On Saturday, a burial for Ebola patients in Bunia, another town in the outbreak zone, took place under heavy security amid rising tensions between health workers and the community. In response to the escalating crisis, authorities in northeastern Congo banned funeral wakes and gatherings of more than 50 people on Friday to curb transmission.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has elevated the risk level for Congo from “high” to “very high,” though the global risk remains low. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus confirmed 82 cases and seven deaths, but warned the outbreak is believed to be “much larger.”
No Vaccine Available
No vaccine exists for the Bundibugyo virus, which went undetected for weeks in Ituri province after the first known death, as authorities initially tested for a more common Ebola strain. Currently, there are 750 suspected cases and 177 suspected deaths, with numbers expected to rise as surveillance expands.
Dr. Jean Kaseya, director-general of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, emphasised the need to build trust with communities to combat the outbreak. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies reported on Saturday that three of its volunteers had died from the outbreak in Mongbwalu. The agency believes the healthcare workers contracted the virus while managing dead bodies on March 27 during a humanitarian mission unrelated to Ebola. This pushes back the outbreak’s timeline from the previously confirmed first death in late April in Bunia.
