A nurse has been killed and another healthcare worker seriously injured in an attack on an Ebola response team in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, raising fresh concerns about the safety of medical personnel battling the country's deadliest recorded outbreak of the disease.
The attack occurred on Saturday, October 24, in Bafwasende, a town in Tshopo province, while the health workers were responding to an Ebola alert.
World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus confirmed the incident on Sunday and condemned the violence against personnel working to contain the outbreak.
WHO Regional Director for Africa Mohamed Yakub Janabi also denounced the attack, warning that fear and misinformation must not lead to violence against healthcare workers.
The identities of the attackers and their motives have not been established. Local authorities had not publicly identified any suspects at the time of reporting.
The incident comes as health authorities struggle to contain an Ebola outbreak that began in May and has spread across several provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
According to the latest figures from Congolese health authorities cited by the Associated Press, the outbreak has resulted in more than 9,800 reported infections and over 4,700 deaths.
The outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo species of Ebola, for which no vaccine or treatment has yet received specific regulatory approval.
Medical teams have been conducting contact tracing, community surveillance and infection-prevention activities in affected communities, but insecurity and public distrust have complicated their work.
Health workers have previously reported threats, attacks on medical facilities and resistance to outbreak-control measures in some communities.
In September, a Congolese politician was beaten to death after publicly supporting Ebola prevention efforts. However, authorities have not established that the latest attack was motivated by similar circumstances.
The violence comes at a particularly difficult time for regional health authorities.
The outbreak has already extended beyond Congo, with cases reported in Kenya and Nigeria, prompting increased surveillance and international coordination.
In its October 23 situation report, WHO warned that transmission remained intense in several Congolese provinces and called for stronger outbreak surveillance and cross-border cooperation.
The killing of a nurse responding to a suspected infection underscores the risks confronting medical teams working in communities where health services are already under pressure.
Authorities have not announced whether the attack has caused the suspension of Ebola response operations in Bafwasende.
For health officials, protecting frontline workers remains essential to maintaining contact tracing, identifying new infections and preventing further transmission.
