Healthcare Workers Face Rising Attacks During Rare Ebola Outbreak Response
Violence against healthcare workers is hampering efforts to contain a rare Ebola outbreak.
Healthcare workers battling a growing Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo are facing mounting violence and distrust from local communities as suspected cases approach 1,000. Aid workers say they are confronting not only the deadly virus but also attacks, threats and misinformation that are severely hampering efforts to contain the outbreak.
Among those on the front lines is Vanny Birungi, a Red Cross volunteer in Bunia who has been travelling through neighbourhoods to raise awareness about the rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola. The strain currently has no approved vaccine or treatment. Birungi said she and her colleagues have faced stone-pelting and verbal abuse from residents who remain suspicious of health workers and international aid organisations.
The outbreak has become increasingly difficult to control as violence against healthcare facilities escalates. In recent days, several treatment centres have been attacked. On Sunday, armed youths reportedly stormed a hospital treating Ebola patients, forcing staff to evacuate patients amid gunfire. A day earlier, residents set fire to a treatment tent operated by Doctors Without Borders in Mongbwalu, allowing more than a dozen suspected Ebola patients to flee. Another centre in Rwampara was burned after family members were prevented from retrieving the body of a man believed to have died from Ebola.
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Health experts say mistrust is worsening because many local residents reject disease prevention measures, particularly restrictions on traditional burial practices. Ebola spreads through direct contact with bodily fluids from infected or deceased individuals, making funerals a major transmission risk. However, some residents believe the disease is fabricated or linked to foreign interference, reflecting years of trauma and instability in the conflict-hit region.
The outbreak is unfolding in an area already affected by armed violence and mass displacement. Aid groups travelling between Bunia and Mongbwalu face the constant threat of attacks from armed groups operating in Ituri province. Humanitarian agencies say the insecurity has complicated surveillance and response operations, especially as international aid cuts have weakened disease monitoring systems in the region.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, said the outbreak has now crossed 900 suspected cases and more than 220 suspected deaths. He warned that health authorities are “playing catch-up with a very fast-moving epidemic” as the disease continues spreading amid growing hostility towards medical teams and humanitarian workers.
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