Attacks on health workers and medical facilities are disrupting efforts to contain the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo), the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has warned.
At least four armed attacks, 16 assaults on emergency responders, and 11 incidents involving health facilities that were burned or otherwise targeted have been recorded since the outbreak began in May, according to data presented by the Africa CDC at a briefing on Thursday.
The agency said attacks have become increasingly deadly since late September. Earlier incidents involved the burning of isolation and treatment centers and assaults on burial teams, while more recent violence has claimed the lives of health workers.
One of the deadliest incidents occurred on November 5-6 in Cantine-Aloya, in the eastern province of North Kivu, where an attack by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) armed group left 66 people dead, including three health workers, the Africa CDC reported. The attack also forced more than 1,000 people who had been in contact with Ebola patients to flee, disrupting follow-up monitoring.
World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned on Wednesday that insecurity is now “one of the greatest obstacles” to controlling the outbreak, limiting access to affected communities and interrupting medical operations. He also reported that a nurse had been killed and another health worker seriously injured in an attack in Tshopo province two weeks earlier.
DR Congo continues to grapple with instability as the M23 rebel group maintains control over parts of the country, fueling clashes and humanitarian emergencies.
The outbreak, caused by the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, was declared on May 15. It has since spread to eight provinces. The agency reported 11,145 confirmed infections and 5,437 deaths across affected countries as of its November 12 briefing, putting the case fatality rate at 48.8%. A total of 3,058 patients have recovered.
DR Congo remains the epicenter as of November 10. Kenya has recorded nine cases, while Nigeria has reported one imported infection. Uganda and France have also reported cases, but transmission there has been contained.