Ebola treatment centre burned in DR Congo amid outbreak caused by Bundibugyo virus

Attack on an Ebola treatment centre

Unknown assailants set fire to an Ebola treatment centre in Bafwasende, a rural town in the north-central Tshopo province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The incident occurred early on Saturday morning, as reported by the doctor in charge of the health zone, Marcel Likilo. According to him, two tents reserved for suspected cases were burned down; the fire was extinguished after local security intervened. Likilo told journalists about this in Kisangani, the provincial capital.

Consequences for the outbreak response

The attack came a week after a crowd lynched a health worker who had responded to an alert about a possible Ebola case in the area. Doctors sent to the health zone to support the epidemic response fled to Kisangani, and the suspected cases who had been at the centre were transferred to Nyanya in the neighbouring province of Ituri. According to the DRC Ministry of Health, more than 10,000 cases have been confirmed since mid-May, of which more than 5,000 have been fatal. The outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo virus. Health officials note that resistance from local communities remains a serious obstacle to containing the virus; the burning of the centre shows how vulnerable health workers' efforts become in an outbreak zone.