Ebola Outbreak Spirals as Mobs Attack Hospitals Treating Patients

Here's a story that shows just how complicated fighting a deadly disease can get when the community you're trying to protect turns against you.

An Ebola outbreak is tearing through eastern Democratic Republic of Congo — and as of this week, it's getting harder to fight, not easier. The outbreak now has over 900 suspected cases and more than 220 suspected deaths, according to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. His assessment? "We are now playing catch-up with a very fast-moving epidemic."

But here's the twist that makes this story especially alarming: the people health workers are trying to save are, in some cases, actively fighting them off. Three times in the past week, healthcare facilities have been attacked. On Sunday, angry young men stormed a hospital treating Ebola patients, forcing medical staff to evacuate them as gunfire rang out. On Saturday, a group of residents set fire to a tent for suspected and confirmed Ebola cases run by Doctors Without Borders in Mongbwalu, and more than a dozen people suspected to have the virus fled. On Thursday, a center in Rwampara was burned after relatives were barred from retrieving the body of a man suspected to have Ebola.

That last part is key to understanding why this is happening. In the eastern DRC, it is customary for relatives and neighbours to gather at the home of the deceased to pay their last respects, and some mourners touch the body as a final act of farewell. But Ebola spreads through bodily fluids — including from the dead — so health workers legally can't release bodies for traditional burial rites. Such measures are often perceived as harsh and inhumane by families who are denied the chance to perform last rites for their loved ones, fueling suspicion that health workers are not being transparent about what happens inside treatment centres.

That suspicion runs deep. Experts reported a lack of trust among some residents who do not believe the virus exists, and Action Aid cited a high level of skepticism and lack of understanding among residents questioned in mid-May in Ituri province. Red Cross volunteer Vanny Birungi, who goes door to door trying to spread safety information, has been pelted with stones and verbal abuse in Bunia, a city at the heart of the outbreak.

The disease itself is making things worse. This is the rare Bundibugyo type of Ebola, with no vaccine or treatment. It's only the third outbreak ever caused by this strain. Early tests in this outbreak were conducted for a more common type of Ebola, losing valuable time. That delayed detection means the virus may have been spreading silently for months. The Red Cross says three volunteers died after handling bodies on March 27 — weeks before the officially recognized timeline — which, if confirmed, would significantly push back when this outbreak actually began.

And the region was already a mess before Ebola showed up. Eastern Congo has long been the scene of attacks by an array of armed groups, and that volatility further complicates efforts to handle the crisis. Confirmed Ebola cases have also been recorded in provinces governed by Rwanda-backed M23 rebels, which will further complicate the response.

On the global stage, this is the first major outbreak since the dramatic cutting of U.S. health aid programs by the Trump administration. U.S. aid cuts are complicating the response, according to Congo's Health Minister, who called for increased funding. Meanwhile, neighboring Uganda has also registered seven confirmed Ebola cases.

The bottom line: this outbreak is a race against time, distrust, violence, and a virus that medicine hasn't fully cracked yet.