On Friday afternoon in Bafwasende, Tshopo province, a community health worker and a teacher were attacked by a mob wielding machetes and batons. The nurse, an experienced staff member at the town’s general hospital, was killed on the spot, while the teacher survived the assault.
Officials said the pair had stopped to check on a plot of land when residents of a neighboring home accused them of contaminating water and spreading Ebola. The attackers shouted accusations that the workers were “spreading the virus through toilets and rivers,” according to a memo shared by a local health official.
Health workers in Bafwasende are now sheltering at the general hospital under police guard, with the army briefly deployed to the area. None of the nurses has slept at home due to security fears, the official added.
Since the outbreak was declared in May, Congo’s public health institute has recorded 9,964 confirmed cases and a 48.6% fatality rate of the Bundibugyo strain. Attacks on health workers, hospitals and vehicles have continued, underscoring the challenge of building trust amid misinformation.
United Nations’ senior Ebola coordinator Julien Harneis condemned the killing as a “loss to the Ebola response and an even greater loss to patients.” The incident follows a recent attack on another community worker whose house was set on fire.
Authorities are investigating the mob’s motives and are urging calm as the outbreak spreads across eight provinces.
