Residents burn – In Rwampara, eastern Congo, local youths set fire to an Ebola treatment center after police stopped them from taking a suspected Ebola victim’s body home for a funeral, underscoring the clash between stringent burial protocols and local burial rites as the out
By the time people reached the treatment center in Rwampara on Thursday, anger had already turned into action.
Local youths set fire to the Ebola treatment center in a town at the heart of the outbreak in eastern Congo after they were stopped from retrieving the body of a local man. according to a witness and a senior police officer. Alexis Burata. a local student who said he was in the area. described what happened as police tried and failed to calm the situation.
“The police intervened to try to calm the situation, but unfortunately they were unsuccessful,” Burata said. “The young people ended up setting fire to the center. That’s the situation.”
An AP journalist said they saw people break into the center, set fire to objects inside, and also to what appeared to be the body of at least one suspected Ebola victim that was being stored there. Aid workers fled the treatment center in vehicles.
The attack reflected a deeper challenge for health workers trying to curb a rare Ebola virus with strict measures that can collide with local customs. including burial rites. Ebola deaths are especially dangerous because the bodies of those who die can be highly contagious. When people prepare bodies for burial and gather for funerals, the risk of further spread rises. Authorities manage the dangerous work of burying suspected victims where possible. but those efforts can be met by protests from victims’ families and friends.
Deputy Senior Commissioner Jean Claude Mukendi. head of the public security department in Ituri Province. said the youths had not understood the protocols for burying a suspected Ebola victim. “His family. friends. and other young people wanted to take his body home for a funeral even though the instructions from the authorities during this Ebola virus outbreak are clear. ” Mukendi said. “All bodies must be buried according to the regulations.”.
Hama Amadou, field coordinator for the humanitarian organization ALIMA, said later that calm had been restored and that aid teams were continuing their work at the center.
The incident landed as the outbreak itself kept widening in ways authorities say are difficult to contain quickly enough. The World Health Organization has declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern. citing that the speed of spread and the gap between official figures and the likely reality on the ground are both growing worries.
Congolese authorities said on Thursday that there were 160 suspected deaths and 671 suspected cases in Congo’s two provinces. On Wednesday, the United Nations said there were two cases including one death in neighboring Uganda.
But WHO says the outbreak is almost certainly much larger than official figures show and has expressed concern about how fast it is spreading. Jean Kaseya. Director-General of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. said the response is still in a phase focused on strengthening investigation and surveillance.
“We are still in the phase where we are intensifying the investigation, searching for cases,” Kaseya said. “I expect the number of cases to increase as surveillance becomes more and more rigorous.”
WHO said the risk of the outbreak spreading globally is low, but high regionally, with Ituri Province at the center of the outbreak bordering Uganda and South Sudan.
In the region, health infrastructure and surveillance capacity are already weak, and experts say international aid cuts have further weakened them. The United Nations reports there are over 920,000 internally displaced people in Ituri Province.
Armed conflict adds another layer of strain. Local leaders said an attack by militants linked to the Islamic State group killed at least 17 people on Tuesday in Alima, a village in Ituri.
Health workers and aid groups say they are in dire need of more supplies and staff to respond. There is also no available vaccine or medicine for the Bundibugyo strain responsible for the outbreak, and one expert said this week it would be at least six to nine months before one would be available.
Ariel Kestens, the head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies delegation in Congo, said: “The priority now is to act quickly and work closely with communities, as the coming days are critical.”
Ebola spreads through contact with bodily fluids such as vomit, blood, feces or semen. Symptoms include fever, vomiting, diarrhea, muscle pain and at times internal and external bleeding.
The outbreak has now reached beyond its earlier boundaries. On Thursday. the M23 rebel group that controls parts of eastern Congo reported that a person had died of the disease near the city of Bukavu. about 500 kilometers (310 miles) south of the outbreak’s epicenter in Ituri Province. It was the first case confirmed in South Kivu Province, and another case was reported there later in the day. Previously, cases had been reported only in Ituri and North Kivu provinces and in neighboring Uganda.
Health officials say the virus spread undetected for weeks following the first known death in late April. They tested for a different Ebola virus more commonly responsible for outbreaks in the country. The WHO says health officials have not yet found “patient zero.” Anaïs Legand. a viral hemorrhagic fevers expert at the WHO. said the scale of the outbreak so far suggests it “started probably a couple of months ago.”.
The outbreak has already triggered international ripple effects. India and the African Union said Thursday that the India-Africa Forum Summit scheduled to be held next week in New Delhi had been postponed due to the “evolving health situation in parts of Africa.”
In Congo, the country’s soccer team canceled a three-day World Cup preparation training camp and a planned farewell to fans in the capital Kinshasa because of the Ebola outbreak.
The United States government placed restrictions on any travelers who have visited Congo. Uganda or South Sudan in the previous 21 days. The rules bar foreign visitors among them from entering the U.S., and require U.S. citizens and permanent residents to be diverted to Washington Dulles International Airport for screening.
Even after calm was restored at the Rwampara center, the events on the ground showed what authorities are up against: the urgency of burial protocols meant to stop contagion, and the deep human need to recover a loved one—even when those efforts can worsen the outbreak.
Ebola outbreak Congo Rwampara treatment center burned Ituri Province Jean Claude Mukendi Alexis Burata ALIMA M23 rebel group South Kivu first confirmed case WHO public health emergency of international concern