KEY POINTS
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DR Congo’s Ebola response is facing growing challenges from attacks on health workers and medical facilities.
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Africa CDC reported 16 assaults on responders, four armed attacks and 11 health facilities targeted.
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The outbreak has infected 11,114 people and killed 5,433, while more than 1,000 contacts have been lost to follow-up.
Attacks on healthcare workers and medical facilities are undermining efforts to contain an Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo), Africa’s leading public health agency has warned.
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said on Thursday that growing insecurity was making it increasingly difficult for health teams to reach affected communities and carry out response operations.
The outbreak, which was declared on May 15, has infected 11,114 people and killed 5,433, according to Congolese government figures. Africa CDC official Wessam Mankoula said the response had been affected by four armed attacks, 16 assaults on health workers and other responders, and 11 incidents in which health facilities were burned or otherwise targeted.
He added that the attacks had become increasingly deadly since late September, putting medical personnel and other people involved in the Ebola response at greater risk.
One of the deadliest incidents occurred last week in Cantine-Aloya, North Kivu province, where an attack by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), an armed group linked to Islamic State, killed 66 people.
Three health workers were among those killed, according to Mankoula.
More Than 1,000 Ebola Contacts Lost to Follow-Up
The deteriorating security situation is also disrupting efforts to trace people who may have been exposed to the virus.
Africa CDC said more than 1,000 contacts had been lost to follow-up, while three confirmed Ebola cases remained unaccounted for.
Contact tracing is an important part of containing the disease because it allows health teams to identify and monitor people who may have been exposed to infected individuals.
The loss of contact with more than 1,000 people, alongside the disappearance of three confirmed cases from monitoring, presents further challenges for the response.
WHO Warns Violence Could Reverse Progress
The World Health Organization (WHO) has also warned that continued violence could undermine progress made in controlling the outbreak.
At a separate briefing, WHO experts said insecurity risked reversing gains achieved over the previous six months.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Wednesday that insecurity had become one of the greatest obstacles to the Ebola response.
He explained that violence was restricting humanitarian access, disrupting response operations and making it harder for health workers to reach communities quickly.
The warnings come as medical teams and aid agencies continue efforts to contain the outbreak, which has placed considerable pressure on healthcare workers in the affected areas.
