Safety fears limit Ebola response in Congo, with more than 12 attacks recorded
Published:Â July 18, 2026 at 12:10 PM
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Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved
Health workers tend to an Ebola patient at the Rwampara Treatment Center in Ituri, Congo, Thursday, June 18, 2026. /Moses Sawasawa)
BUNIA – At least a dozen attacks on health facilities and workers have been recorded during Congo’s Ebola outbreak as safety fears restrict the response at the epicenter in Ituri province, authorities said Saturday
Many unpaid health workers and other frontline workers have also gone on strike, further complicating response efforts in what’s been declared the fastest growing Ebola outbreak on record with 2,181 cases, including 864 deaths so far recorded
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Many of the attacks have been carried out by angry mobs who have stormed treatment centers or targeted response teams in the field, Pierre Akilimali, incident manager for the Ebola response, said at a press briefing in Bunia, the capital of Ituri
In Ituri province which accounts for around 90% of all cases, health and aid workers have been seen leaving remote communities considered hot spots and heading to Bunia in recent days, locals told The Associated Press
This follows the latest attack by residents protesting the death of a woman at a nearby hospital in Ituri’s town of Nyakunde on Wednesday
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission
