Safety concerns have significantly hindered the Ebola response in the Democratic Republic of Congo, with authorities reporting more than a dozen attacks on health facilities and workers in Ituri province, the epicenter of the outbreak.
These attacks, often carried out by angry mobs storming treatment centers or targeting response teams in the field, have exacerbated challenges in containing the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak on record. The outbreak has so far resulted in 2,181 cases and 864 deaths. Many unpaid health workers have also gone on strike, further complicating efforts.
In Ituri province, which accounts for approximately 90% of all cases, health and aid workers have been observed leaving remote communities identified as hot spots and relocating to Bunia, the provincial capital, according to local accounts. This exodus follows a recent attack by residents protesting the death of a woman at a hospital in the town of Nyakunde on Wednesday.
Pierre Akilimali, incident manager for the Ebola response, detailed the attacks during a press briefing in Bunia. The repeated assaults have created an environment of fear, forcing many frontline workers to retreat from critical areas and impeding the delivery of vital medical assistance.