Attackers burn Ebola treatment tent in Congo; 18 suspected cases escape

A tent used for treatment of the Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo was set on fire for the second time this week, and 18 people suspected of infection escaped into the general population, the local hospital director said on Saturday.

Unidentified people arrived at the clinic in Mongbwalu, a town at the centre of the outbreak of the Bundibugyo virus, a rare type of Ebola, on Friday night and set fire to a tent set up by the Doctors Without Borders charity for suspected and confirmed Ebola cases, Dr Richard Lokudi, director of the Mongbwalu General Reference Hospital, said.

“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 said.  On Thursday, another treatment centre in the town of Rwampara was burned down after family members were prohibited from retrieving the body of a local man.

The bodies of those who died of Ebola can be highly contagious and lead to further spread when people prepare them for burial and gather for funerals. The dangerous work of burying suspected victims is being managed wherever possible by authorities, which can be met by protests from families and friends.

A burial for Ebola patients in Bunia, another town within the outbreak zone, took place on Saturday under high security as tensions between health workers and the local community ran high.  Authorities in northeastern Congo on Friday banned funeral wakes and gatherings of more than 50 people in an effort to curb the spread of the virus.  The World Health Organisation said that the outbreak now poses a “very high” risk for Congo - up from a previous categorisation of “high” - but that the risk of the disease spreading globally remains low.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Friday that 82 cases and seven deaths have been confirmed in Congo, but that the outbreak is believed to be “much larger.” There is no available vaccine for the Bundibugyo virus, which spread undetected for weeks in Congo’s Ituri province following the first known death, while authorities tested for another, more common, Ebola virus and came up negative. There are now 750 suspected cases and 177 suspected deaths, though more are expected as surveillance expands.  Dr Jean Kaseya, director-general of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, said a response to the outbreak must include building trust with communities.