Congo Ebola outbreak death toll passes 4,000 as treatment centre burned

Congo’s latest Ebola outbreak has claimed more than 4,000 lives, marking a grim milestone in what has become the fastest-growing outbreak of the virus in history. The news comes as the humanitarian response faces severe disruption: soldiers have burned down a key transit centre in the northeast, and a local politician has been beaten to death.

According to the country's Health Ministry, 4,018 people have died out of 8,300 confirmed cases. That represents a mortality rate of nearly 50 per cent since the government first declared the outbreak on 15 May. The current crisis is driven by the rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, for which there is no approved vaccine or treatment.

What happened to the Ebola treatment centre in Bunia?

The physical infrastructure of the response is under attack. On the outskirts of Bunia, the capital of northeastern Ituri province, soldiers searching for weapons set fire to an Ebola transit centre in the Kigonze camp.

The United Nations said the fire forced 19,000 displaced people living in the camp to flee. Julien Harneis, the UN's senior Ebola coordinator, warned that losing the facility represents a devastating setback for local healthcare.

"When we lose a centre, that means we lose capacity, we lose investment, and we have to start again," Harneis said. "Above all, it means that people do not get access to the care that they really need."

Why are local communities resisting health measures?

Public health efforts are colliding with deep-seated political mistrust and violence. On Sunday, Marie-Célestin Karondwa, a local official with Congo’s ruling Union for Democracy and Social Progress party, was targeted at his home in Butembo, an Ebola hotspot in North Kivu province.

Attackers beat Karondwa to death and set his house on fire. Local authorities said the official was targeted for defending government measures to contain the virus.

Many residents in the region dismiss Ebola as a hoax. Distrust in the central government, fueled by past management of health crises and chronic corruption, has made communities highly resistant to outside medical intervention.

Why are health workers protesting?

Even where medical teams can operate, internal disputes are halting work. In Bunia, health workers gathered this week to protest over unpaid wages.

The demonstrators included members of vital surveillance teams, the people responsible for tracking down those exposed to infected patients. Waving signs reading "No money, no data!", the workers demanded months of back pay before officials dispersed the crowd. Similar strikes have repeatedly stalled containment efforts since the outbreak began.

The human toll continues to rise among responders. Doctors Without Borders (MSF) confirmed that one of its aid workers contracted the virus and had to be medically evacuated to a high-level isolation unit at Leiden University Medical Centre in the Netherlands. More than 50 health workers have died since the start of the outbreak.

While official figures suggest weekly cases have dropped from a peak of 850 in mid-July to about 490 in September, experts warn the numbers are misleading. The Africa CDC said the apparent slowdown likely reflects a lack of data, as insecurity and community resistance prevent surveillance teams from documenting the true scale of the spread.