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Two attacks on Ebola treatment centers in the Democratic Republic of Congo forced the international humanitarian group Médecins sans Frontières to shut down facilities, the group said Thursday, warning that the epidemic was not under control .
During the first attack Sunday night, unidentified assailants threw stones at a treatment center in Katwa, in northeastern Congo, and set fire to the structure. They destroyed much of the building, equipment and treatment rooms, and the brother of a patient died, even though the circumstances were not clear.
Doctors Without Borders said that her staff members were safe and that patients had been transferred to other institutions, but she described the attack as a fatal blow to the efforts to contain the drug. epidemic, which has already left 553 dead. This is the second worst Ebola epidemic in history after the crisis that claimed the lives of 11,310 people in West Africa from 2014 to mid-2016 .
"This attack paralyzed our ability to cope with the current epicenter of the epidemic," said Emmanuel Massart, emergency coordinator for Doctors Without Borders in Katwa, in a statement.
Three days later, another attack took place in the night, this time in the neighboring city of Butembo. The attackers attempted to set fire to the building and the following day, bullet holes were visible on the wall, said Dr. Michael Yao, incident officer at the World Health Organization. The support group said that patients and medical staff were safe, 15 of whom confirmed as carriers of the Ebola virus.
Officials said they did not know what motivated the attacks. "It sounds like an organized group that wants to target treatment centers," said Dr. Yao.
He added that the loss of these centers had been particularly damaging as they were part of an alert system for suspected cases and offered services. experimental treatments that have shown success. But officials acknowledged that they had struggled to gain the trust of many Congolese.
At first, said Dr. Yao, there was resistance from the community because it was the first experience of the region in the region, which was stigmatized. And although health workers have gradually established a climate of trust with local populations, many patients have arrived too late in treatment centers – a delay often fatal because of the 21-day incubation period for Ebola .
"When a person arrives late at a treatment center, they are less likely to survive," he said, calling it a "vicious circle" that creates a negative perception on the part of the public. For many people, he said, treatment centers began to look like "a kind of center where people come to die".
In addition to resistance, there is a climate of intense mistrust towards foreigners, born in part from long-standing conflicts in the region and from Dissent campaigns leading up to the elections last month, during which politicians spread false rumors about the origins of the virus. More than 100 armed groups are involved in an almost constant conflict in eastern Congo, and militias and security forces are accused of brutalizing civilians. This left many unsure who to trust.
Violence has failed efforts to eliminate the epidemic, and the W.H.O. warned that this could lead to the spread of the Ebola virus in the region. Whitney Elmer, deputy national director of the humanitarian group Mercy Corps, said there had already been several waves of mistrust and violence and that health workers needed to work better with community groups and leaders.
"Community involvement takes time," she said. "There is a lot of fear and misconceptions, and in 21 days we talk about life and death."
Workers are trying to fight the resistance by talking with community leaders and offering testimony to Ebola survivors, who are now over 300, said Dr. Yao.
W.H.O. said he was developing housing and treatment for patients forced to relocate. The agency recorded 814 confirmed infections and 65 probable cases, and determined that the risk of spread of the epidemic at the national or cross-border level in Uganda, Rwanda or South Sudan remains "very high".
With international groups, Congo has mastered an Ebola outbreak last year and aid workers said the success of the campaign was a source of hope in the current crisis. But for now, Ms. Elmer said, the loss of both centers was "totally disabling in the region where it is currently the biggest hotspot."
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