Ebola patients flee hospital after attacks in DR Congo

Doctors on the front lines of the Ebola fight in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, already facing shortages of basic supplies, now have to deal with attacks on healthcare facilities and patient escapes as the virus spreads rapidly.

At least three such incidents occurred in the northeastern province of Ituri, where the first cases of Ebola were reported, including two over the weekend that targeted the same hospital and allowed more than two dozen patients to flee.

The attacks recall widespread violence against healthcare facilities during an outbreak that occurred between 2018 and 2020 in eastern DR Congo, which killed more than 25 healthcare workers.

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Some were carried out by civilians angry at not being able to bury their loved ones or convinced the outbreak was a hoax.

The movement of money and labor into an area that felt neglected during decades of conflict and humanitarian crisis has fueled local suspicions about the real reasons for the sudden surge in interest.

A similar dynamic appears to be occurring now, said Dr Richard Lokodu, medical director of Mongbwalu General Referral Hospital, which was attacked first on Saturday (23) and again on Sunday (24).

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Richard Lokodu, medical director of Mongbwalu General Referral Hospital, speaks to Reuters about attacks on healthcare facilities amid the Ebola outbreak in DR Congo. - Reuters
"There is denial of the disease within the population, with some residents wanting to claim the bodies of suspected and/or confirmed cases," he said.

The WHO (World Health Organization) has declared the outbreak of the rare Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus, the third largest such outbreak on record, as a public health emergency of international concern.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Sunday that there have been more than 900 suspected cases in the outbreak to date, including 101 confirmed cases.

Ebola outbreak: Pandemic risk is low, says doctor | NOW CNN

On Monday, Tedros said there had been 220 suspected deaths in the current Ebola outbreak and that the delay in detecting cases meant response teams were now "playing catch-up."

A suspected Ebola patient died while trying to escape
At Mongbwalu General Hospital, located in the city of Mongbwalu, where many cases have been reported, 18 Ebola patients fled, on Saturday (23), after "unidentified individuals" set fire to tents erected by the humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders, where the patients were being isolated.

Facade of the Mongbwalu general hospital in DR Congo, which was the target of attacks amid the country's Ebola outbreak. - Reuters
Four laboratory test results for these patients have already been released: three negative and one positive, said Dr Lokodu.

"So we have a confirmed case of Ebola that continues to circulate in the community and evade response measures," he said.

On Sunday (24), the hospital suffered four waves of attacks by young people mobilized by relatives of a Christian religious leader who died of Ebola, the doctor added.

According to him, seven other patients fled and the Congolese police and soldiers had to mobilize to restore order.

Tents erected by the humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders were set on fire during an attack on the Mongbwalu General Hospital, in DR Congo, amid the Ebola outbreak in the country.

- Reuters
A suspected Ebola patient, who was in critical condition with hemorrhage, died in the second attack while trying to escape from his bed, Lokodu added.

The attackers wanted the bodies of Ebola victims to be released for burial, Lokodu said.

The bodies of Ebola victims are highly infectious after death, and unsafe burials - in which family members touch the body without adequate protective equipment - are a major factor in transmission.

Long history of attacks on Ebola treatment centers
During the 2013 to 2016 Ebola outbreak in West Africa, the largest on record, health workers faced multiple attacks from angry mobs, some of whom accused them of spreading the virus.

But the phenomenon exploded during the 2018 to 2020 outbreak in eastern Congo, a region marked by rampant insecurity and distrust of formal authorities.

In addition to spontaneous displays of anger by local communities, many attacks were carried out by militia groups seeking to exploit the outbreak for political and financial gain, the researchers found.

Mongbwalu health workers serve the population amid the Ebola outbreak in DR Congo. - Reuters
The current outbreak is believed to have originated in Ituri, before spreading to the provinces of North Kivu and South Kivu - including areas under the control of the Rwandan-backed M23 rebels - and across the border into neighboring Uganda.

This Monday, Uganda reported two more confirmed cases of Ebola, bringing the total number of cases in the country to seven.

What we know about the Ebola outbreak that the WHO has declared a global emergency

Source: CNN