Ebola controversy escalates as treatment center burned in Ituri, DR Congo | News about Ebola

Residents of a town at the center of an Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have set fire to a treatment center after being denied access to the body of a local man, in a show of disbelief and anger over the response to the virus.

The attack took place on Thursday in Rwampara, Ituri district, where health workers have been struggling to control the disease in an area with few hospitals and many people displaced by conflict.

Witnesses said a group of young men entered the site after the authorities refused to release the body of their friend who was suspected to have died of Ebola. The group then set fire to other parts of the site.

“The police intervened to stop the situation, but unfortunately they failed,” Alexis Burata, a local student who said he was nearby at the time, told the Associated Press. “The youths set fire to the place.”

An AP reporter saw people entering the building with burning materials inside, as well as what appeared to be the body of one suspected Ebola patient being stored there. Aid workers were seen fleeing between the vehicles.

Officials say the incident highlights the complexities between public health and local customs, particularly around death and funerals.

Because the bodies of Ebola victims remain highly contagious, Congolese officials and international health organizations are pushing for burials to be carried out by special teams wearing protective gear. Funeral rituals, which often involve washing and touching the body and large gatherings of mourners, are considered the most dangerous of contagion.

“His relatives, friends, and other young people wanted to take his body home for burial despite the instructions from the authorities on the Ebola epidemic,” said deputy commissioner Jean Claude Mukendi, head of public security in Ituri district. “All bodies must be buried according to law.”

Such procedures, however, are often seen as cruel and inhumane by families who are denied the opportunity to perform the last rites for their loved ones, leading to suspicions that health workers are not revealing what happens inside the treatment center.

Hama Amadou, the coordinator of the humanitarian organization ALIMA, which had teams working in Rwampara, said that calm has been restored and aid workers have resumed work.

The incident highlights the enormous challenges Congolese officials and international organizations are facing as they try to contain a rare and deadly virus in a volatile region.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the outbreak a global health emergency, warning that violence, displacement and mistrust are hampering efforts to stop the spread of the disease.