KINSHASA, October 26 (Aalimi Nation) – A nurse was killed and another health worker was severely injured in an attack while responding to an Ebola alert in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the World Health Organization (WHO) said, in the latest violence to hit teams working to contain the country's worst outbreak of the disease.
What happened
The attack took place on Saturday in Bafwasende, in Tshopo province, according to the WHO. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on social media that "healthcare must always be protected". The WHO's regional director for Africa, Dr Mohamed Yakub Janabi, also condemned the attack, saying "health is NOT a target".
Local authorities had not commented on the attack or on any suspects at the time of the latest reports.
A pattern of hostility
The attack is the latest in a series of assaults on health workers and responders that authorities say is hampering efforts to slow the spread of the virus. Responders say public distrust, fuelled by dissatisfaction with the government's handling of the outbreak and long-running concerns about corruption, has made their work harder, and that some people dismiss Ebola as a hoax.
In May, angry residents set fire to tents at health centres in two separate incidents within a week. Last month, a Congolese politician was reported beaten to death in North Kivu after publicly defending the government's response and urging people to follow measures such as hand-washing and social distancing. Responders also say that in some health zones, team members have been held captive or threatened, and that hotspots already face shortages of supplies and health workers.
Scale of the outbreak
Figures from the Congolese health ministry show more than 9,800 cases and more than 4,700 deaths since the outbreak began in May, making it the deadliest Ebola outbreak in the country's history. The outbreak has been reported in four countries across eastern, central and western Africa, the widest geographic spread recorded for an Ebola outbreak on the continent.
The strain involved is Bundibugyo, for which there is no approved vaccine or specific treatment. Symptoms can take up to 21 days to appear, according to the WHO, and the virus spreads through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected people.
Regional response
On Sunday, Uganda's Health Minister Chris Baryomunsi announced that Ugandan citizens returning from Congo after recent travel there must undergo a 21-day quarantine. Uganda declared its previous outbreak over in July. Two people who had recently passed through Uganda later tested positive, one in Kenya and one in Nigeria. Switzerland has said the woman in Nigeria likely caught the virus in Uganda, a conclusion Baryomunsi described as "speaking prematurely", noting that relatives who visited her had been to Congo. Uganda has stepped up screening at Entebbe airport and its land border crossings, and travellers entering by air, land or water must fill in a passenger locator form.
In an update on October 23, the WHO urged stronger monitoring and cross-border cooperation, and advised against travel or trade restrictions on affected countries.
