A communal burial for Ebola patients in Rwampara took place on Saturday under tight security as tensions rose between health workers and the local community, said David Basima, a Red Cross team leader overseeing the burials.
Armed soldiers and police monitored the burials as Red Cross workers in white protective suits lowered closed coffins into the ground. The weeping family members stood at a distance.
Basima said his team, after arriving at the scene, “experienced many difficulties, including resistance from the youth and the community”.
“We were forced to call the authorities to come to our aid, just for safety,” said Basima.
Authorities in northeastern Congo on Friday banned funeral wakes and gatherings of more than 50 people in a bid to curb the spread of the virus.
The outbreak is a high risk for Congo, WHO says
The World Health Organization has said the outbreak now represents a Risk “very high” for Congo – from a previous categorization of “high” – but that the risk of the disease spreading globally remains low.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Friday that 82 cases and seven deaths had been confirmed in Congo, but that the outbreak was believed to be “much larger”.
There is no vaccine available for the Bundibugyo virus, a rare strain of Ebola that spread undetected for weeks in Congo’s Ituri province after the first known death, while authorities tested for another, more common Ebola virus and came back negative. There are now 750 suspected cases and 177 suspected deaths, although more are expected as surveillance expands.
Dr. Jean Kaseya, director general of the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said a response to the outbreak must include building trust with communities.
