A tent used for Ebola treatment in eastern Congo has been set on fire for the second time this week.
Justin Kabumba And Wilson McmakinPrevious photoA sanitation worker from the Bunia city government sprays chlorine to disinfect the central market, as Ituri province continues to combat an Ebola outbreak, in Bunia, Congo, Saturday, May 23, 2026.
Members of the Congo Scouts movement carry an Ebola awareness banner along a street during a public sensitisation campaign amid the Ebola outbreak in Bunia, Congo, Saturday, May 23, 2026. Sanitation workers from Bunia city government spray disinfectant in the central market area near a rubbish truck in Ituri province, as they continue efforts to combat the Ebola outbreak in Bunia, Congo, Saturday, May 23, 2026.
Motorcycle taxi riders and their passengers wait at the entrance to the central market while sanitation workers disinfect the area, as Ituri province continues to combat an Ebola outbreak in Bunia, Congo, Saturday, May 23, 2026. Motorcycle taxi riders and their passengers wait at the entrance to the central market while sanitation workers disinfect the area, as Ituri province continues to combat an Ebola outbreak in Bunia, Congo, Saturday, May 23, 2026.
A sanitation worker from the Bunia city government sprays chlorine to disinfect the central market, as Ituri province continues to combat an Ebola outbreak, in Bunia, Congo, Saturday, May 23, 2026. this week, and 18 people suspected of infection escaped, a local hospital director said Saturday.
Unidentified people arrived at the clinic in Mongbwalu, a town at the center 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, told The Associated Press.
“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 center 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.and gatherings of more than 50 people in an effort to curb the spread of the virus. The World Health Organization said that the outbreak now poses a “very high” risk for Congo — up from a previous categorization 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. ”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 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said a response to the outbreak must include building trust with communities. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said on Saturday that three of its volunteers had died from the outbreak in Mongbwalu.
The agency said it believed the three healthcare workers contracted the virus while carrying out dead body management activities on March 27 as part of a humanitarian mission unrelated to Ebola.of the outbreak from the previous first confirmed death in late April in the town of Bunia, the capital of Ituri. Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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