Ebola Burial Team Attacked, 11 Patients Flee Isolation In Congo

An Ebola burial team has been attacked in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and 11 patients have fled isolation facilities, as the outbreak continues to spread to new areas of the country’s hardest-hit province.

A team attempting to safely bury an Ebola victim was assaulted in the South Kivu town of Katana, forcing workers to abandon the coffin and allowing community members to handle the body, an incident health officials warned could spark new chains of transmission.

Health workers have registered more than 900 suspected cases of Ebola and 220 suspected deaths, though real figures are likely much higher as the outbreak went undetected for some time before the Congolese government declared it on 15 May. Neighbouring Uganda has also registered seven confirmed cases.

Efforts to contain the outbreak are being hampered by several operational gaps, including delays in early case detection, incomplete contact tracing, unsafe burial practices and weak infection prevention systems within healthcare facilities.

The outbreak involves the Bundibugyo strain of the virus, for which there is no approved medicine or vaccine.

Initial containment efforts are taking place in a highly unstable part of eastern Congo, where conflict involving armed groups such as the ADF, CODECO and the Rwanda-backed M23 has long restricted humanitarian access.

Fighting and restrictions by armed groups have obstructed aid operations, curtailed civilian movement and limited access to essential services.

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) has warned that the outbreak risks becoming the deadliest on record without urgent international action, as it is now spreading faster than responders can contain it.