Ebola in Congo: attackers kill nurse responding to suspected case
The WHO reported the attack on health workers in Tshopo. The outbreak has killed more than 4,700 people, and Uganda is imposing a 21-day quarantine.
Symbolic image · Photo: Photo Credit: Content Providers(s): CDC/Daniel J. DeNoon / Wikimedia Commons, Public domain (cropped and resized)
Attackers have killed a nurse and severely injured another health worker in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. According to the World Health Organization, the two were responding to an Ebola alert on Saturday in Bafwasende, Tshopo province. Local authorities have not commented on the attack or the suspects.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote that "Everyone working to protect communities from this deadly disease must be able to work in dignity and safety." Congo's health ministry has recorded more than 9,800 cases and over 4,700 deaths since May, the deadliest Ebola outbreak in the country's history. There is no approved vaccine for the Bundibugyo strain behind it.
Neighbouring Uganda has ordered a 21-day quarantine at their own cost for citizens returning from Congo and tightened screening at Entebbe airport and land borders. The outbreak has now reached four countries across eastern, central and western Africa.