Ebola Clinic Burned by Angry Residents in Congo

May 23 ETDeveloping

Health Desk

In Short: Residents in Mongbwalu, DRC, attacked and burned a Doctors Without Borders clinic treating Ebola patients, leading to 18 suspected cases going unaccounted for.

Angry residents in Mongbwalu, DRC, attacked and burned a Doctors Without Borders clinic treating Ebola patients, according to initial reports. The incident occurred on Friday night, with no injuries reported but 18 suspected Ebola patients fleeing the facility and becoming unaccounted for.

The attack was part of a growing tension between health workers and the local community, as suspected Ebola patients have been mixing with the general population at regional hospitals, according to an incident manager on the national Ebola response team.

As a result of the attack, a communal burial for Ebola patients took place on Saturday under tight security in Rwampara, with three Red Cross volunteers having died from the outbreak in Mongbwalu, according to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

The incident highlights the challenges faced by health workers in containing the Ebola outbreak, with three healthcare workers contracting the virus while handling dead bodies as part of a humanitarian mission unrelated to Ebola, the agency said.

What's confirmed

What's still developing

An incident manager on the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s national Ebola response team said on Friday that suspected Ebola patients have mixed with the general population at the region’s general hospitals.
The Red Cross carried out what is referred to as safe and dignified burials – protocols used to bury victims during infectious disease outbreaks – as a crowd stood by, crying as staff carried the coffins of their…
No one was hurt in the attack, according to initial reports but as patients ran out to escape the fire, 18 people with suspected Ebola infections left the facility and are now unaccounted for, a local hospital…
The angry residents had arrived at the clinic in the town of Mongbwalu on Friday night and set fire to a tent set up for suspected and confirmed Ebola cases by the Doctors Without Borders humanitarian group, Dr.…
A communal burial for Ebola patients in Rwampara took place on Saturday under tight security as tensions between health workers and the local community ran high, said David Basima, a team leader with the Red Cross…
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 on March 27 while handling dead bodies as part of a humanitarian mission unrelated to Ebola.
U.S. federal health officials said on Friday night that they are banning green card holders who have been in Ebola-affected countries from returning to the U.S. Green card holders are people who are not U.S. citizens…

Sources

AP Newslink