Ebola Awareness Workers Attacked in Eastern Congo
Two community health workers in eastern Congo faced a violent attack by a machete-wielding mob on Friday, highlighting the challenges of controlling the Ebola outbreak as cases exceed 10,000. This incident reflects the widespread fear and suspicion among rural residents regarding the disease.
Tragically, one of the workers, an experienced male nurse, lost his life in the assault. The other worker, a teacher, was severely injured but managed to escape the scene.
Local officials reported that the two were inspecting a plot of land in Bafwasende province when they encountered a group of people constructing a nearby home. The angry residents accused them, shouting that they were responsible for spreading the Ebola virus through contaminated toilets and rivers. The mob quickly escalated, summoning a larger group armed with clubs and machetes, and the nurse was killed on-site.
Just days prior to this incident, another community worker was attacked nearby but escaped, while the mob set his house ablaze.
In late September, a senior local politician was tragically beaten to death by a mob after discussing the Ebola outbreak on a radio show. His house was also set on fire following the attack.
Health officials in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have been voicing concerns about local superstitions and disinformation campaigns spread by insurgents, which have hindered cooperation with medical personnel. Mobs have resorted to violence when hospitals refuse to return the bodies of Ebola victims for traditional burials. Some individuals avoid hospitals altogether, fearing that doctors are purposely infecting patients with Ebola, while others outright deny the existence of the disease.
“We are stunned that the community turned on this nurse. It’s hard to believe he was seen as an outsider,” remarked a local health official regarding the tragic machete attack.
Following the attack, doctors and nurses have taken refuge in the Bafwasende hospital under police protection, fearful of returning home.
World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus emphasized the need for safety for those working against the disease, stating, “Everyone working to protect communities from this deadly disease must be able to work in dignity and safety.” The nurse’s killing, he noted, was a significant loss not just for the Ebola response but for the patients as well.
The DRC health ministry announced that the Ebola Bundibugyo outbreak has now surpassed 10,000 cases, marking it as the fastest-spreading Ebola outbreak ever recorded. Nearly half of those infected with this rare strain have died.
Most cases are concentrated in the DRC, where Ebola has propagated across eight provinces and 66 health zones since its initial confirmation in May, when it was first reported in only three health zones.
Virologists are struggling to establish the complete chain of infection for about 80 percent of these cases, as an outbreak isn’t deemed under control until at least 95 percent of infections can be traced back to known contacts of the affected individuals.
Recently, Nigeria’s first Ebola case in over a decade involved a woman, the wife of a Swiss diplomat, who was airlifted to Switzerland for treatment. Nigerian Health Minister Muhammad Ali Pate reported that she is “stable, conscious, and communicating,” and her test results are improving. Her husband, while asymptomatic, is under observation as a precaution.
However, there is ongoing debate among health officials from Uganda, Nigeria, and Congo regarding where the woman contracted the disease. Ugandan authorities maintain that there is no local transmission, thus asserting she could not have contracted Ebola during her recent visit to Uganda. Some have speculated that she may have contracted it while traveling through the DRC, but the Africa Centers for Disease Control noted that her travel history does not indicate any stop in Congo.
