A gaggle of armed young men stormed a Congo hospital treating Ebola patients amid the continuing outbreak on Sunday evening, forcing staff to evacuate patients during rounds of heavy gunfire, The Associated Press reported.
It was not immediately known if anyone was hurt within the attack on the Mongbwalu General Hospital, but Dr. Richard Lokudu, the hospital’s medical director, told the AP that the attackers demanded that two bodies of their kin be handed over to them.
There was gunfire, and the medics were attempting to evacuate the patients and the staff, Lokudu told the news agency in a phone interview.
“Mongbwalu General Hospital is on general alert,” he added. He didn’t share any further details.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern, with greater than 900 suspected cases and 220 suspected deaths within the Democratic Republic of Congo, in accordance with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
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The gunfire attack was the third violent incident inside 4 days at Congo health facilities amid a rapidly spreading Ebola outbreak, exacerbated by a scarcity of resources and public health-care infrastructure.
On Saturday, an Ebola treatment centre arrange by the Doctors Without Borders humanitarian group in a town on the epicentre of the crisis was burned to the bottom by Congolese locals who became frustrated while attempting to retrieve the body of a neighborhood man, the AP said.
During that attack, 18 individuals with suspected Ebola infections fled the temporary facility and were unaccounted for, Lokudu said in a previous statement.
On Thursday, one other treatment centre, within the town of Rwampara, was burned down after relations were banned from retrieving the body of a neighborhood man suspected of dying of Ebola.
Corpses of infected Ebola patients will be highly contagious, and phone with them can result in further spread of the disease when people prepare them for burial and gather for funeral services.
In response to the outbreak, Congolese authorities have mandated that the harmful work of burying suspected victims be managed wherever possible by authorities, which will be met by protests from families and friends.
On Friday, the federal government said funeral wakes and gatherings of greater than 50 people could be banned in northeastern Congo to curb the spread of the virus.
The WHO has said the outbreak poses a “very high” risk for Congo, which has been upgraded from its previous categorization of “high,” but that the chance of a world spread stays low.
Last week, Canadian health authorities introduced enhanced screening measures for Ebola at airports for returning travellers after a person who was tested in Ontario tested negative for the deadly virus.
Dr. Joss Reimer, Canada’s chief public health officer, said during a virtual press conference last week that “comprehensive” screening has been in place at Canadian airport inspection kiosks since Wednesday and includes additional questions asking returning airline passengers whether or not they have been to the Democratic Republic of Congo or neighbouring Uganda inside 21 days of arriving in Canada.
No travel ban is currently in place for Canadians, though an existing advisory urging Canadians to avoid non-essential travel to and throughout the region as a result of a fragile security situation was already in effect.
Some U.S. travel bans are in effect, including for green card holders who’ve been to the Congo, Uganda or South Sudan within the last 21 days, Reuters reported.
— with files from The Associated Press and Global News’ Sean Boynton
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