Nurse killed in DR Congo while responding to Ebola alert — BBC News World
A nurse was killed and another health worker seriously injured in an attack while responding to a report of Ebola in the northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. BBC News reports that, according to the UN-backed radio station Radio Okapi, the two medics were attacked by local young people.
According to Radio Okapi, the attackers accused the health workers of contaminating water sources and spreading the Ebola virus. The World Health Organization condemned the attack.
WHO response
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that health workers must be able to carry out their duties safely and with dignity, and that healthcare personnel must be protected. The WHO expressed condolences to the family and colleagues of the killed nurse and wished the injured worker a speedy recovery.
Similar incidents have been recorded in the country before. Last month, a politician was beaten to death after calling for measures against the spread of Ebola. In August, the Red Cross reported that volunteers were injured and an ambulance was set on fire during 11 violent incidents in the first 100 days after the outbreak was declared.
More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.
Restrictions in Uganda
Amid the risk of the virus spreading, Uganda banned all non-essential travel to and from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Only work-essential travelers, including humanitarian workers, truck drivers and security personnel, are permitted to cross the border from the DR Congo into Uganda, subject to strict medical screening.
Ugandan citizens returning from the DR Congo must undergo a 21-day quarantine at their own expense. All travelers arriving in the country must also complete contact-tracing forms. Uganda emphasizes that no Ebola cases have been reported in the country since August.
Cases in Kenya and Nigeria
This month, Kenya and Nigeria reported the first Ebola cases linked to the current outbreak in the DR Congo. In Kenya, seven people who tested positive were in stable condition, while 98 contacts remained under medical observation. Since the outbreak began in May, nearly 10,000 people have been infected in the DR Congo, and more than 4,800 have died.
