Doctors battling the worsening Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are facing growing security threats as attacks on health facilities and resistance from local communities complicate efforts to contain the virus.
Medical teams already struggling with shortages of essential supplies are now also dealing with patients fleeing treatment centres and repeated attacks on hospitals in the north-eastern province of Ituri Province, where the outbreak was first detected.
At least three attacks on health facilities have been reported in recent days, including two incidents over the weekend targeting the same hospital where more than two dozen Ebola patients escaped.
The violence has revived memories of the deadly 2018–2020 Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo, during which more than 25 health workers were killed in attacks linked to mistrust, misinformation and ongoing regional conflict.
Some communities remain sceptical about the outbreak, with certain residents reportedly denying the existence of the disease or demanding the release of bodies for traditional burials.
Richard Lokodu, the medical director of the Mongbwalu General Referral Hospital, said unidentified individuals attacked the hospital on Saturday and set fire to tents erected by Médecins Sans Frontières to isolate Ebola patients.
According to Lokodu, 18 patients fled during the attack.
Laboratory results later confirmed that one of the escaped patients had tested positive for Ebola and was still circulating within the community.
“So we have one confirmed case of Ebola that continues to circulate in the community and evade the response,” Lokodu said.
The hospital was attacked again on Sunday in four separate waves, allegedly by youths mobilised by relatives of a Christian religious leader who had died from Ebola.
Seven more patients reportedly escaped during the unrest, while police and soldiers were deployed to restore order.
Lokodu said one critically ill suspected Ebola patient died while attempting to flee during the second attack.
Authorities say the attackers were demanding the release of Ebola victims’ bodies for burial, despite warnings that the bodies remain highly infectious after death.
Unsafe burial practices, where family members come into direct contact with bodies without protective equipment, are considered one of the major drivers of Ebola transmission.
The World Health Organization has declared the outbreak of the rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola a public health emergency of international concern.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said more than 900 suspected cases have been identified so far, including 101 confirmed infections.
Tedros also confirmed on Monday that at least 220 suspected deaths have been recorded and warned that delayed detection of cases had left health responders “playing catch-up”.
The outbreak is believed to have started in Ituri before spreading to North Kivu and South Kivu, including areas controlled by the M23 rebel group, and across the border into Uganda.
Ugandan authorities confirmed two additional Ebola cases on Monday, bringing the country’s total number of confirmed infections to seven.