BUNIA, Congo (AP) — An Ebola treatment facility in eastern Congo was torched for the second time this week, allowing 18 suspected patients to flee into the surrounding community, according to a local medical official who spoke Saturday.
Unknown attackers targeted the medical tent in Mongbwalu, a community at the epicenter of the Bundibugyo virus outbreak, on Friday evening. The facility had been established by the Doctors Without Borders organization to care for both confirmed and suspected Ebola patients, according to Dr. Richard Lokudi, who heads the Mongbwalu General Reference Hospital.
“We strongly condemn this act, as it caused panic among the staff of the Mongbwalu Referral Hospital and also resulted in the escape of 18 suspected cases into the community,” he stated.
Earlier this week on Thursday, attackers destroyed another medical facility in Rwampara after relatives were denied access to recover a deceased local resident’s remains.
Corpses of Ebola victims carry extremely high infection risks and can trigger additional transmission when communities handle them during traditional burial preparations and funeral ceremonies. Health officials are taking control of burial procedures for suspected victims whenever feasible, though this approach often sparks resistance from grieving families and community members.
Security forces provided protection for an Ebola victim’s burial ceremony in Bunia, another community within the affected region, on Saturday as friction escalated between medical personnel and local residents.
Regional officials in northeastern Congo implemented restrictions Friday prohibiting funeral vigils and assemblies exceeding 50 participants to limit viral transmission. The World Health Organization elevated the outbreak’s threat level to “very high” risk for Congo — an increase from the previous “high” designation — while maintaining that global spread probability remains minimal.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced Friday that Congo has recorded 82 confirmed infections and seven fatalities, though he believes the actual outbreak scope is “much larger.”
No vaccine exists for the Bundibugyo strain, which circulated undetected for weeks throughout Congo’s Ituri province after the initial known fatality while health officials tested for a different, more prevalent Ebola variant and received negative results. Current tallies show 750 suspected infections and 177 suspected fatalities, with numbers expected to climb as monitoring efforts expand.
Dr. Jean Kaseya, who leads the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, emphasized that outbreak response efforts must prioritize establishing community trust.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies announced Saturday that three volunteers perished from the outbreak in Mongbwalu. The organization believes these healthcare workers became infected during body handling duties on March 27 while participating in a humanitarian operation unconnected to Ebola response.
This revelation would substantially move back the outbreak timeline from the previously identified first confirmed death in late April in Bunia, Ituri’s capital city.
