Health workers battling Ebola in Congo's northeast are facing a new threat: Their own treatment centers are coming under attack, and patients are bolting. In Ituri province, where the current outbreak began, at least three assaults on health facilities have been reported, including two this past weekend at Mongbwalu General Referral Hospital that allowed more than two dozen patients to escape, reports Reuters. The violence echoes deadly incidents during Congo's 2018-2020 outbreak, when clinics were routinely targeted and more than two dozen health workers were killed.
Doctors say mistrust is again fueling the unrest, with some residents denying the disease exists or demanding the return of bodies for traditional burials. "We continue to tell them that the disease is out there. Some accept, and others don't," one Red Cross volunteer tells the AP. CBS News notes that bodies of Ebola victims aren't safe to handle, as they can still spread the disease, so authorities in Congo have proclaimed that they must handle all burials, which is adding to the tension.
Before the weekend, the Congolese government barred wakes and congregations of more than 50 people in the northeastern part of the country. The World Health Organization has labeled this Bundibugyo-strain outbreak, now with more than 900 suspected cases and 101 confirmed, a public health emergency of international concern. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Monday that there've been 220 suspected deaths, and that late detection of cases has left responders "playing catch-up."
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