EBOLA SECURITY CRISIS-DOCTOR KILLED BY CONGO MILITIAMEN

DE FAAKTO OUTBREAK INTELLIGENCE

SITUATION-EBOLA CRISIS DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO

BACKGROUND-DOCTOR TREATING EBOLA PATIENTS KILLED BY MILITIAMEN

 

Reuters, AP, VOA & UN News are reporting,

 

Key Points

  • Heavily armed militiamen attacked a hospital treating Ebola patients in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on Friday, killing a senior World Health Organization (WHO) epidemiologist (Reuters)
  • Three assailants from a local self-defense militia attacked the hospital in the city of Butembo, one of the epicenters of the second-largest Ebola epidemic in history  (Reuters)
  • The assailants are identified as Mai-Mai rebels demanding the departure of the international community engaged in the Ebola response (Reuters)
  • Doctor Valery Mouzoko Kiboung was an epidemiologist deployed by WHO in response to the outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus disease that began last August (UN News)
  • A Congolese health ministry staffer and a driver were injured in the attack, according to a separate statement by the U.N. representative in Congo
  • WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote on Twitter, “We are outraged by the attack. Health workers are #NotATarget.”  (VOA)
  • Attackers were targeting foreigners because they incorrectly believed the foreigners had brought the Ebola virus to Congo (VOA)
  • According to witnesses at the scene, these militiamen wanted all the expatriates to go home because according to them, Ebola does not exist in Butembo-They said they will continue if these expatriates do not leave as soon as possible (AP)
  • The violence is the latest in a series of attacks on Ebola treatment centers by militiamen and those distrustful of the international response to the outbreak (VOA)
  • The series of attacks since February against Ebola treatment centres has hastened the spread of the virus and led some first responders to pull out of the area (Reuters)

 

Analysis

Failure to overcome grassroots problems surrounding, security, trust, burial practices, surveillance, detection, and infection control will continue to disrupt containment efforts for Ebola in DRCongo.

  • The people of DRCongo believe Ebola has been brought to the country by foreigners
  • There have been over 30 attacks and incidents against the Ebola response in the past month alone
  • Lack of trust-patients not seeking help- 40% of deaths outside medical centers
  • Surveillance not effective- 35% of new cases are not linked to existing cases
  • Security services-deployment is confused and hurting efforts- their role has never been to enforce sanitary measures
  • Burial practices are poorly understood and offensive to relatives & community-Bodies wrapped in plastic and sprayed with chlorine, buried without ceremony, possessions burned

 

Reuters  https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-ebola-congo/militiamen-kill-senior-who-official-in-attack-on-congo-ebola-center-idUSKCN1RV11B

VOA  https://www.voanews.com/a/doctor-fighting-ebola-outbreak-in-congo-killed-in-attack/4884057.html

UN News  https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/04/1037021

AP  https://www.apnews.com/3b99e6c8b646404288dc4a288b402044