Police Fire Warning Shots as Angry Crowds Storm Ebola Center in DR Congo

Police in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo fired shots into the air on Sunday after angry crowds attempted to reclaim the bodies of loved ones who had died at an Ebola treatment centre in Mongwalu. Two local journalists told the BBC that the unrest continued throughout the day.

The treatment centre, located inside a hospital compound, was the same facility targeted overnight on Friday into Saturday, when an isolation tent was set on fire. The body of a deceased Ebola victim is highly infectious and can cause the virus to spread further when prepared for burial. According to Dr. Richard Lokudu, medical director of Mongwalu General Hospital, Sunday's attackers demanded that the bodies of two people be handed over to their families. He told the Associated Press that the hospital was on "general alert." One of the deceased was a Catholic shepherd described by a hospital official to AFP as a "well-known local figure – a religious leader."

Suspicion of authorities and skepticism about official causes of death have led to deep distrust among some communities currently affected by Ebola. On Thursday, crowds set fire to isolation tents at a hospital in Rwampara – a town 85 kilometers southeast of Mongwalu where cases are also concentrated – after they were prevented from taking the body of a man thought to have died from Ebola away for burial. Red Cross volunteers are now carrying out safe burials under police protection to stop the virus from spreading. The organization has also reported that three volunteers have died from suspected Ebola, likely contracted while managing dead bodies.

Officials say there have been more than 900 suspected Ebola cases in the current outbreak and 220 suspected deaths. The outbreak is caused by the rare Bundibugyo species of Ebola, which had not been seen for over a decade. There are currently no vaccines or medications that target Bundibugyo, making treatment significantly harder. Last week, the World Health Organization said it could take up to nine months for a vaccine to be ready.

On Monday, Uganda confirmed two new cases – both health workers – bringing the country's total infections to seven, with one death recorded. The health ministry said the patients are receiving treatment and that contact tracing is underway. The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) warned that other countries on the continent – including Angola, Burundi, the Central African Republic, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Zambia – are at risk from the outbreak.

Over the weekend, health ministers from DR Congo, Uganda, and South Sudan finalized their cross-border coordination response alongside the head of the Africa CDC. The agency's director-general, Dr. Jean Kaseya, said he was holding a meeting on Monday for "all African leaders" to share guidance. Speaking to the BBC World Service's Newsday, he explained that their plan looks at how to avoid waste, how to isolate and manage cases, and how to ensure people have dignified funerals. Kaseya also said the three countries agreed on a $319 million budget to stop the outbreak from spreading. He noted that, so far, only 10% had been secured by the affected countries.

On Monday, South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa pledged an initial $5 million as an act of solidarity. He described the contribution as a demonstration of confidence in the Africa CDC as the continent's public health agency, encouraging other African states to join efforts. He added that Africa is no longer waiting passively for others to act and come to its assistance, waiting helplessly. Ramaphosa also called on the international community to support the plan, arguing that the world is safer when Africa is safer, and that delayed response and support today will result in much higher human, social, and economic costs tomorrow.

Kaseya said African businessmen would meet in Lagos on May 29 to raise additional funds, while international partners including the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union, and the World Bank are also committing funds.

Ten days into the declaration of an outbreak, WHO chief Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said responders are "playing catch-up" after an initial delay in detecting cases. The Africa CDC declared an Ebola outbreak in DR Congo's Ituri province on May 15 – the country's 17th Ebola outbreak. "We are urgently scaling up operations, but at the moment the epidemic is outpacing us," Tedros said on Monday, adding that he would be traveling to DR Congo the following day. The WHO has declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.

Along with Ituri, cases have been detected in DR Congo's North and South Kivu provinces, which border Rwanda. Parts of those two eastern areas are under the control of the rebel group M23, whose clashes with government forces have brought additional difficulties in dealing with the virus.

For now, police are firing warning shots, crowds are burning isolation tents, and an untreatable strain of Ebola is spreading faster than the response.