WHO warns Ebola outbreak is outpacing response efforts in DR Congo, Uganda

Meanwhile, Ugandan authorities confirmed two additional Ebola infections on Monday, bringing the country’s total number of confirmed cases to seven. The new patients are healthcare workers employed at a private medical facility in the capital, Kampala, according to the Ministry of Health.

The worsening outbreak has also been accompanied by growing unrest and mistrust towards health authorities in parts of eastern Congo.

On Sunday evening, armed youths reportedly stormed Mongbwalu General Hospital in Ituri province, where Ebola patients were being treated. Medical staff were forced to evacuate patients amid gunfire in the area.

Hospital director Richard Lokudu said the attackers demanded the release of the bodies of two relatives believed to have died from Ebola-related complications. It was not immediately clear whether anyone had been injured in the incident.

The violence followed a separate attack on Saturday in which residents set fire to an Ebola isolation tent operated by the humanitarian organisation Doctors Without Borders, also known as MSF.

During that incident, 18 people suspected of carrying the virus reportedly fled the facility and remained unaccounted for, according to hospital officials.

Last week, another treatment centre in the town of Rwampara was burned down after authorities prevented relatives from retrieving the body of a man suspected to have died from Ebola.

Congolese officials have insisted that burials of suspected Ebola victims must be managed under strict health protocols to prevent further transmission. However, the restrictions have triggered anger among some communities, where traditional funeral rites are deeply significant.

In an effort to contain the outbreak, the government last Friday announced a ban on funeral wakes and public gatherings of more than 50 people across northeastern parts of the DRC.