A tent used to treat Ebola outbreaks in eastern Congo was set on fire for the second time this week.
Bunia, Democratic Republic of Congo – A tent used to treat the Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo second fire The director of a local hospital said on Saturday that 18 people suspected of being infected had escaped this week.
Unidentified people arrived at the clinic in the town of Mumbwalu on Friday night and burned a tent set up by the charity Medecins Sans Frontières for suspected and confirmed Ebola cases, Dr. Richard Lokudi, director of Mumbwalu General Reference Hospital, told The Associated Press. Mumbwalu is the center of an outbreak of Bundibugyo virus, a rare form of Ebola.
“We strongly condemn this act as it caused panic among staff at Mongbwalu Referral Hospital and resulted in 18 suspected cases escaping into the community,” he said.
Another treatment center in the town of Ruwanpara was burned down on Thursday after family members were prevented from retrieving the body of a local man.
The bodies of Ebola victims are highly contagious and can lead to further spread as people prepare the bodies for burial and attend funerals. Authorities are trying to manage the dangerous task of burying suspected victims as best they can, but this is likely to be met with protests from family and friends.
Funerals for Ebola patients were held Saturday amid high security in Bunia, another town in the affected area, as tensions between health workers and local communities grew.
Authorities in northeastern Congo on Friday No funeral wakes and gatherings of more than 50 people to curb the spread of the virus. The World Health Organization said the outbreak now poses a “very high” risk to Congo (up from the previous “high” risk), but the risk of the disease spreading globally remains low.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Friday that Congo has confirmed 82 cases and seven deaths, but the scale of the epidemic is believed to be “much larger.”
There is currently no vaccine available against Bundibugyo virus, which spread undetected for weeks Congo’s Ituri province has recorded its first known death as authorities tested negative for another, more common strain of Ebola. There are currently 750 suspected cases and 177 suspected deaths, but more cases are expected as surveillance expands.
Dr. Jean Kasea, director-general of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said responses to the outbreak must include building trust with communities.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said on Saturday that three of its volunteers had died in an outbreak in Mumbwaru. The agency said it believed three health care workers became infected while performing body disposal activities on March 27 as part of a humanitarian mission unrelated to Ebola.
This will greatly delay timeline In late April, the first death case occurred in the town of Bunia, the capital of Ituri. The reasons for the outbreak were as follows.
McMakin reported from Dakar, Senegal.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. all rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
