Ebola Patients Flee Treatment Centers in Congo Amid Mob Attacks
Health officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are facing a troubling trend: patients are leaving treatment centers after violent mob attacks. This issue is becoming more frequent, particularly as young individuals in eastern Congo resist epidemic measures and insist on retrieving the bodies of their deceased friends and family for funerals.
In eastern Ituri province, the center of the Ebola outbreak, at least three attacks on clinics have been documented. In the chaos, some patients fled and never returned. Notably, two of the attacks occurred at the same facility in Mombwar town.
Dr. Richard Lokodu, Medical Director at Mombuwal General Referral Hospital, voiced concern: “There are voices denying this disease among the public, and some members want to collect the bodies of suspected or confirmed cases.” He recalled similar incidents during previous Ebola outbreaks that occurred between 2013 and 2016, and again from 2018 to 2020. Once more, outraged crowds demanded their loved ones, unaware that the bodies of Ebola victims are extremely infectious.
A significant number of residents in this region are skeptical about the existence of Ebola. Some think it’s a fabricated crisis aimed at exploiting the local population. This mindset seems to have been fueled by the presence of international health organizations working with the DRC’s central government to manage the outbreak, bringing in resources to the conflict-ridden area.
The violence witnessed during the 2018 outbreak was heightened due to the unstable political climate in eastern Congo. Rebel and jihadist groups, tied to the Islamic State and al-Qaeda, exploited the chaos. These groups have since gained more power, now exerting control over Goma, which is severely affected by the current outbreak.
Dr. Lokodu reported that 18 Ebola patients escaped when a mob set fire to a treatment facility established by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) last Saturday. Of the few who were tested afterward, only one result came back positive.
“We have one confirmed case of Ebola, and Ebola continues to spread in the community and evade response,” Lokodu remarked, clearly frustrated.
Just a day later, Mombuwal General Hospital endured another attack as local youths clashed with authorities. This resulted in the escape of seven more patients, including one who, despite suffering from severe complications typical of Ebola, died as he attempted to leave the clinic.
Earlier that week, a mass burial for Ebola victims took place in Rwanpara under strict security, following an attack on another clinic just two days prior.
According to reports, “Armed soldiers and police watched the burial as Red Cross workers in white hazmat suits lowered the sealed coffin to the ground, with family members standing in the distance crying.”
Officials like Dr. Lokodu are deeply concerned that these mob attacks are complicating the already perilous work of healthcare professionals. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies announced that three of its volunteers succumbed to Ebola while working on the outbreak in Mombuwal, after contracting the virus while handling corpses, more than a week before the outbreak was officially recognized.
There have been multiple delays in the official timeline for the Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak as older infections emerge. The disease likely spread during the critical weeks prior to the formal declaration of an outbreak since the uncommon Bundibugyo strain can evade detection by standard testing kits for more prevalent variants.
“We are currently trying to catch up with an epidemic that is moving very rapidly. At the moment, the epidemic is outpacing us,” warned World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
