Attacks on health workers and medical facilities are increasingly disrupting efforts to contain an Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo that has killed more than 5,400 people, Africa CDC warned on Thursday.
Wessam Mankoula, an official at the African public health agency, said the incidents included four armed attacks, 16 assaults on responders and 11 health facilities burned or otherwise targeted. Attacks have become increasingly deadly since late September, he told a press briefing.
Last week, an attack on Cantine-Aloya in North Kivu by the Allied Democratic Forces, an armed group linked to Islamic State (IS), killed 66 people, including three health workers, Mankoula said.
More than 1,000 people who had been in contact with Ebola patients have been lost to follow-up, while three confirmed patients remain unaccounted for, leaving gaps in efforts to track and contain transmission.
World Health Organization experts warned at a separate briefing that continued violence could reverse gains made during six months of response efforts.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Wednesday that insecurity had become one of the biggest obstacles to containing the outbreak. Violence was restricting humanitarian access, disrupting operations and delaying efforts to reach affected communities, he said.
The outbreak, declared on May 15, has infected 11,114 people and killed 5,433, according to Congolese government figures.
