The World Health Organization has officially classified the Bundibugyo virus outbreak as a public health emergency of international concern…
The virus has spread from the Democratic Republic of the Congo into Uganda, with confirmed cases now reaching Kampala…
As of late May, there are over 500 suspected cases and more than 130 suspected deaths reported across the region…
Health experts warn that the true number of cases is likely “the tip of the iceberg” due to conflict and displacement…
The current strain is notoriously difficult because there is currently no approved vaccine or specific medical treatment available…
Global humanitarian groups are sounding the alarm as funding cuts have left the response severely understaffed and undersupplied…
A second Ebola treatment center is set ablaze in Congo; 18 people suspected of infection on the run
BUNIA, Congo (AP) — Angry residents of a town at the epicenter of the Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo attacked and burned a tent that was part of a health center where people are being treated for the virus, the staff there said Saturday. It was the second such attack in the region in a week.
No one was hurt in the attack, according to initial reports but as patients ran out to escape the fire, 18 people with suspected Ebola infections left the facility and are now unaccounted for, a local hospital director said.
The angry residents had arrived at the clinic in the town of Mongbwalu on Friday night and set fire to a tent set up for suspected and confirmed Ebola cases by the Doctors Without Borders humanitarian group, Dr. Richard Lokudi, director of the Mongbwalu hospital, told The Associated Press.
“We strongly condemn this act, as it caused panic among the staff and also resulted in the escape of 18 suspected cases into the community,” he said.
On Thursday, another treatment center, in the town of Rwampara, was burned down after family members were banned from retrieving the body of a local man suspected to have died of Ebola.
Burials of Ebola-victims stir anger, frustration