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A health worker fighting an Ebola outbreak in DR Congo was killed Friday during an attack on a hospital in Butembo, in the east of the country, the World Health Organization said. Health (WHO).
This attack is the latest in a series of badaults against teams battling a nearly nine-month-old Ebola epidemic that has claimed the lives of nearly 850 people.
"The @WHO family lost a dear colleague during the attack on Butembo Hospital, #DRC, today," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, head of the US, said in a tweet. ; WHO.
"My colleagues and I are saddened by the loss of this courageous colleague who was saving lives to end #Ebola.We are outraged by the attack.Health workers are #NotATarget."
Police and local officials said the victim was a Cameroonian doctor who is part of an anti-Ebola team.
"The attack took place at the University Hospital of Butembo," said the mayor of the city, Sylvain Kanyamanda.
"The intervention team (Ebola) was in a meeting. Armed Mai-Mai (militia) arrived and shot people. A doctor, an epidemiologist, was shot and taken to the emergency room. His colleagues were injured. , died later, "said Kanyamanda.
DR Congo declared a tenth outbreak of Ebola in 40 years last August in the North-East Province of North Kivu, before the virus spread to the neighboring region of Ituri.
The epicenter of the epidemic was located first in the rural area of Mangina, then was transferred to the city of Beni.
Local organizations say the number of deaths from Ebola is increasing.
An updated report released Wednesday by the Ministry of Health announced 843 deaths.
The 9 April WHO data estimated the number of confirmed or probable cases at 1,186, of which 751 had been fatal.
Ebola information file. By John Saeki / Adrian Leung (AFP)
The epidemic is the second deadliest ever recorded after the outbreak that hit West Africa in 2014-2016, killing more than 11,300 people.
Efforts to reverse highly contagious hemorrhagic fever in the DRC have been hampered by fighting but also by community resistance to preventive measures, safe care facilities and safe burials.
On March 9, a Butembo treatment center was attacked and a policeman was killed and a health worker injured. It was the third attack on this center.
On February 24, a treatment center in Katwa was set on fire.
On April 12, the WHO Emergency Committee, during a re-examination of the epidemic, determined that the situation in DR Congo did not constitute a "public health emergency" of international significance ", a statute that triggers a major global intervention.
Neighboring Uganda and Rwanda, worried about the epidemic, began vaccinating health workers. More than 102,000 people have received a new Ebola vaccine in the DRC.
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