Ebola Patients Flee DRC Hospital After Angry Crowd Storms Facility in Ituri
- An angry crowd attacked Nyakunde Hospital in Ituri province, DRC, on Wednesday, forcing Ebola patients and medical staff to flee the facility
- The attack followed the death of a woman denied a blood transfusion due to Ebola outbreak protocols, with up to 10 patients receiving treatment at the time
- Samaritan's Purse evacuated its staff as the situation deteriorated, while some patients too ill to move were left behind without treatment
Ebola patients and health workers abandoned Nyakunde Hospital in the Ituri province of the Democratic Republic of Congo on Wednesday after a mob stormed the facility, throwing stones and breaching its perimeter fence, a medical official at the hospital has told Reuters.
François Berocan Uderos, a medical biologist at Nyakunde Hospital, said the crowd included relatives of a woman who had arrived at the facility to give birth but died following a severe anaemia diagnosis.
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According to Reuters, he explained that when her family volunteered to donate blood, hospital staff turned them away because transfusions are forbidden under Ebola outbreak protocols. She passed away at around 3 p.m., and the attack began shortly afterwards.
"The medical team has since left the hospital. The generator supplying power to the facility is no longer functioning, and patients have fled," Uderos said.
He confirmed that up to 10 Ebola patients had been receiving treatment at the time of the attack, and that several had escaped. By Thursday morning, three patients remained at the facility.
Aid group evacuates staff from Nyakunde
Samaritan's Purse, a Christian humanitarian organisation operating an Ebola treatment centre adjacent to the hospital, pulled its personnel out as conditions worsened. The group's vice president, Ken Isaacs, said patients who were well enough also fled during the chaos.
"We evacuated our people and those well enough in the ETC got out and ran. All of Samaritan's Purse got out and we haven't gone back since. There are roadblocks and we don't feel it is safe," Isaacs said.
He added that patients too ill to leave were abandoned without care. Congo's army subsequently announced it had opened an investigation into the unrest in Nyakunde.
Outbreak disrupts minerals partnership talks
The incident reflects a pattern of hostility towards health teams in eastern Congo, where community mistrust, armed insecurity, and resistance to outside medical intervention have repeatedly obstructed containment. Similar violence occurred during the 2018–2020 outbreak in the region, which claimed more than 25 health workers.
Congo's 17th Ebola outbreak, declared in May, has recorded 2,073 confirmed cases and 796 deaths to date. The security environment has also prompted health workers to threaten strike action, citing inadequate compensation relative to the risks and pressures they face.
Beyond the public health toll, four sources familiar with the matter told Reuters that the outbreak is disrupting negotiations over a major US-backed minerals partnership involving Congo. The US State Department said it was simultaneously working to contain the outbreak and advance the minerals agreement.
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Uganda set to discharge last ebola patient
Legit.ng earlier reported that Uganda is preparing to release its final Ebola patient on Thursday, July 16, 2026, a move that will trigger a 42-day countdown before the country can officially be declared free of the virus, according to government officials.
Alan Kasujja, a Ugandan government spokesperson, announced on Wednesday, July 15, 2026, that the patient would be discharged from the Mulago National Referral Hospital in Kampala on Thursday morning.
Source: Legit.ng
