In the northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo’s Ituri province, health workers battling the rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola are facing escalating challenges, including patient escapes and violent attacks on treatment facilities, significantly hindering the response to an outbreak declared a public health emergency of international concern by the World Health Organisation (WHO). At least three such incidents have occurred recently, two over a single weekend, targeting the same hospital and resulting in the flight of over two dozen patients.
These attacks echo a pattern seen during the 2018-2020 Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo, where health facilities were frequently targeted. Back then, some attacks were carried out by civilians angered by restrictions on burying loved ones or convinced the outbreak was a fabrication. The sudden influx of resources and personnel into neglected areas also fueled local suspicions about the true intentions behind the interventions.
A similar dynamic appears to be unfolding now, according to Dr. Richard Lokodu, medical director of the Mongbwalu General Referral Hospital. “There is denial of the disease within the population, with some members wanting to claim the bodies of suspected and/or confirmed cases,” he stated, referring to the incidents at his hospital.
The WHO has reported over 900 suspected cases and 101 confirmed cases of the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola so far. The outbreak, which is the third-largest on record, has also resulted in 220 suspected deaths, with WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus noting that delays in case detection mean responders are “playing catch-up.”
At the Mongbwalu General Referral Hospital, 18 Ebola patients escaped on Saturday after unidentified individuals burned isolation tents set up by Médecins Sans Frontières. Initial lab results from these escapees show one confirmed case, meaning a positive case of Ebola is now circulating in the community, evading containment efforts.
The hospital faced further attacks on Sunday, with four waves of assaults by young people mobilized by relatives of a Christian religious leader who had died of Ebola. During these attacks, seven more patients fled, and police and soldiers were required to restore order.
Tragically, a critically ill Ebola patient with hemorrhaging died while attempting to escape during the second attack on Sunday. The perpetrators of these attacks were primarily seeking to reclaim the bodies of deceased Ebola victims for burial, a practice that poses a significant risk of transmission.
Unsafe burials, where family members handle the highly infectious bodies of Ebola victims without proper protective equipment, are a major driver of the virus’s spread. The demand for traditional burial practices directly conflicts with public health measures designed to contain the outbreak.
The phenomenon of attacks on Ebola treatment centers is not new. Health workers faced isolated incidents during the 2013-2016 West Africa outbreak, with some communities falsely accusing them of spreading the virus. However, the issue escalated dramatically during the 2018-2020 outbreak in eastern Congo, a region plagued by insecurity and deep-seated mistrust of authorities.
Research indicates that beyond spontaneous community anger, many attacks were orchestrated by militia groups exploiting the outbreak for political and financial gain. The current outbreak is believed to have originated in Ituri province and has since spread to North and South Kivu provinces, including areas controlled by the M23 rebels, and has crossed the border into neighboring Uganda.
Uganda reported two additional confirmed Ebola cases on Monday, bringing its total to seven, highlighting the cross-border nature of this public health crisis. The ongoing violence and mistrust not only endanger health workers and patients but also create fertile ground for the virus to spread undetected, complicating efforts to bring the outbreak under control.
The repeated attacks and patient escapes underscore the complex socio-cultural and security challenges that must be addressed alongside medical interventions. Without community trust and security, containment efforts are likely to remain severely hampered. Observers will be watching closely to see how authorities and international organizations navigate these dual threats of disease and insecurity in the coming weeks.
Leave a Reply