Amid deep-seated community distrust, police in eastern DR Congo fired warning shots to stop grieving crowds from taking highly contagious bodies from an Ebola clinic as a regional outbreak continues to escalate.
Police in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo fired warning shots on Sunday to disperse angry crowds attempting to reclaim the highly infectious bodies of relatives from an Ebola treatment centre in Mongwalu. Deep distrust and skepticism regarding official causes of death fueled the day-long unrest, leading to attacks on the facility.
The current outbreak, driven by the rare Bundibugyo strain for which no current vaccine exists, has already resulted in over 900 suspected cases and 220 deaths. Cross-border containment efforts are underway, with the Africa CDC and regional leaders proposing a $319 million response budget.
World Health Organization chief Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that responders are struggling to contain the crisis, stating, “We are urgently scaling up operations, but at the moment the epidemic is outpacing us.”
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