Health authorities in Uganda reported two new cases of Ebola on Monday, bringing the number of Ebola cases to seven after the number of suspected cases in neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo surpassed 900.
All of these cases are linked to the outbreak of violence in Congo, which appears to have started days or weeks before the country’s authorities announced the outbreak on May 15.
A 59-year-old Congolese man was admitted to a hospital in Kampala, the capital of Uganda, on May 11 and died three days later, before it was known that he was suffering from Ebola. Two other Congolese people who sought medical help in Uganda later found out they had Ebola.
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Health authorities in Uganda on Saturday confirmed the first local infections: a driver and a health worker were exposed to a Congolese patient who died on May 11. Two other health workers at a private hospital in Kampala tested positive, the Ministry of Health said on Monday.
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The response has been marred by fear, anger and frustration among the local population, including attacks on medical facilities, and mistrust of the authorities in a region once plagued by armed violence.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the disease a public health emergency of global concern.
The Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus that caused the outbreak has no approved vaccine or treatment, although scientists at the University of Oxford are working on a vaccine that could begin clinical trials “in two to three months,” a WHO spokesperson told CBS News affiliate BBC News last week.
Gunshots and evacuations
Angry young men stormed a hospital treating Ebola patients in eastern Congo on Sunday evening, forcing health workers to insist on evacuating the patients as gunfire erupted in the area.
At the moment it was not known if there were any injuries during the attack on Mongbwalu General Hospital but Dr. Richard Lokudu, the director of health at the hospital, told the Associated Press that the attackers wanted the bodies of two of their relatives to be given to them.
There were gunshots and the medics were trying to evacuate the patients and staff, Lokudu said on the phone.
“Mongbwalu General Hospital is on alert,” he added. He did not have any other details about the chaos that took place.
The attack – the third in less than a week at health facilities where health workers are struggling due to a lack of supplies to treat suspected Ebola patients – has underlined the challenges of the outbreak.
The bodies of those who died from Ebola can be highly contagious and lead to further spread as people prepare for burials and gather at funerals.
In response to the outbreak, Congolese authorities have mandated that the dangerous practice of burying suspects be controlled where possible by the authorities, which is met with protests from families and friends. On Friday, the government said funerals and gatherings of more than 50 people will be banned in northeastern Congo in an effort to stop the spread of the virus.
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On Saturday, a group of residents of Mongbwalu, Ituri province, attacked and burned the tent organized for suspected and confirmed cases of Ebola by humanitarian group Doctors Without Borders.
During the attack, 18 people suspected of having Ebola left the facility and their whereabouts are unknown, Lokudu said earlier.
On Thursday, another medical center was burnt down in Rwampara town after family members were prevented from retrieving the body of a local man suspected to have died of Ebola.
The WHO said the outbreak poses a “very high” risk to Congo – up from the previous “high” category – but that the risk of global spread remains low.
Earlier on Sunday, Congo’s Ministry of Communications said the number of people suspected of having Ebola stood at 119, but the numbers released separately for each region reached 220.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said on Saturday three of its volunteers died due to the outbreak of violence in Mongbwalu. The agency said it believes three health workers contracted the virus on March 27 while carrying dead bodies as part of a campaign to help people not related to Ebola.
If confirmed, this will significantly push back the breakout timeline.
