BUNIA, Congo (AP) — More than twelve attacks on health facilities and workers have been documented amid Congo’s ongoing Ebola outbreak, with safety concerns now severely limiting the ability of responders to operate in the hardest-hit area of Ituri province, officials announced Saturday.
The crisis has been made worse by a strike among many unpaid health workers and other frontline personnel, creating additional obstacles for those trying to contain what has been declared the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak ever recorded. To date, 2,181 cases have been confirmed, with 864 people having lost their lives.
Pierre Akilimali, the incident manager overseeing the Ebola response, told reporters at a press briefing in Bunia — the capital of Ituri — that a significant number of the attacks have been carried out by angry crowds who have stormed treatment centers or gone after response teams working in the field.
Ituri province is responsible for roughly 90% of all cases, and in recent days locals told The Associated Press they have witnessed health and aid workers departing remote communities considered hot spots and retreating to Bunia.
The exodus follows the most recent attack, which took place Wednesday in the Ituri town of Nyakunde, where residents protested following the death of a woman at a nearby hospital.
