Ebola treatment center torched in DR Congo amid deadly outbreak

Treatment center attacked

Unidentified assailants torched an Ebola treatment center in Bafwasende, a rural town in the Democratic Republic of Congo's north-central Tsopo province, in the early hours of Saturday. Two rooms designated for suspected Ebola cases were set ablaze before local security guards managed to intervene and extinguish the flames, according to Marcel Likilo, the medical doctor overseeing the health zone.

Medical personnel evacuated

Likilo told reporters in the provincial capital Kisangani that doctors deployed to support the Ebola response had fled to the city following the attack. Suspected cases previously housed at the facility were transferred to Nia-Nia in the neighboring Ituri province, he added.

Pattern of violence

The arson occurred just one week after a mob lynched a health worker who was responding to an Ebola alert in the same area, underscoring the lethal hostility facing frontline medical personnel. Health officials have acknowledged that community resistance remains a significant obstacle to virus containment efforts in the region.

Death toll exceeds 5,000

According to the latest Health Ministry figures, confirmed Ebola cases have exceeded 10,000 since mid-May, with more than 5,000 deaths recorded across affected areas. The outbreak, caused by the Bundibugyo virus species, has persisted for months without signs of abating as authorities struggle to maintain operations amid ongoing security challenges.