Nurse killed in attack while responding to Ebola alert in DR Congo

A nurse has been killed and another health worker seriously injured in an attack as they were responding to an Ebola alert in north-eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

The two were targeted by local youths who accused them of contaminating water sources and spreading the Ebola virus, according to the UN-backed Radio Okapi. The World Health Organization (WHO) condemned the attack.

In an attempt to prevent the virus spreading, neighbouring Uganda has banned all non-essential travel to and from DR Congo and says its citizens returning from there will be quarantined for 21 days.

More than 4,800 people have died and nearly 10,000 been infected in DR Congo since this outbreak began in May.

Reacting to the attack in DR Congo, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said health workers “must be able to carry out their duties in safety and dignity”, adding that healthcare personnel should always be protected.

The UN agency also extended its condolences to the family and colleagues of the nurse who was killed and wished the injured worker a swift recovery.

The BBC has contacted the Ebola response team for comment on the circumstances surrounding the attack in DR Congo.

This is not the first time such an attack has happened in DR Congo. Last month, a politician was beaten to death after promoting measures to stop the spread of Ebola, while in August, the Red Cross said its volunteers had been injured and an ambulance set on fire in 11 violent incidents during the first 100 days after the outbreak was declared.

Earlier this month, two countries – Kenya and Nigeria – reported their first cases of Ebola linked to the current outbreak.

The patient in Nigeria was on Monday flown from Abuja to Switzerland for further treatment.

She is the Ugandan-born wife of a Swiss diplomat who had travelled to the Ugandan capital for a holiday, according to the head of Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention Jean Kaseya. She was evacuated alongside her husband, who has shown no symptoms.

Nigeria’s health ministry said she was stable, conscious and able to communicate.

Authorities are now trying to establish where she contracted the virus.

The new restrictions announced in Uganda come after questions were raised over her case and that of a Kenyan businessman. Both tested positive for Ebola after travelling through Uganda, even though no cases have been reported there since August.

The Kenyan had arrived from DR Congo where he had business interests.

Only essential travellers, including aid workers, truck drivers and security personnel, will be allowed to cross the border from DR Congo to Uganda, subject to strict health screening, the health ministry announced.

In addition, all travellers entering Uganda, regardless of their country of origin, will be required to complete locator forms to facilitate contact tracing where necessary.

It said returning Ugandans would “undergo 21 days of quarantine at their own cost”.

About 60 people who were being monitored after coming into contact with the Kenyan patient have all been discharged, it added.

In Kenya, the first group of 20 contacts of the first case have gone home, after spending 21 days in quarantine, the health ministry announced on Monday.

Another 98 are still being supervised, while seven people who have tested positive for Ebola were stable it said.

The Kenyan businessman died two days after arriving in Nairobi. A second woman, related to the businessman, died over the weekend.

“All these are measures to ensure that we keep Uganda free of Ebola,” Uganda’s Health Minister Chris Baryomunsi told the BBC’s Newsday programme.

Since the two cases were reported in Kenya and Nigeria this month, Uganda has repeatedly stressed that no cases have been reported within its borders. Uganda recorded 20 Ebola cases and two people died shortly after the outbreak started in DR Congo, but the World Health Organization declared the country free of the disease in August.

The two passengers tested positive after passing through Uganda’s Entebbe airport on the same day.

Diana Atwine, the health ministry’s permanent secretary, said CCTV camera footage showed no physical interaction between the two patients.

Ugandan officials had previously said the patient in Nigeria had travelled to eastern DR Congo, only transiting through Uganda. On Sunday, however, the health ministry said Uganda and Nigeria were both working to establish her movements, complete travel history and possible routes of exposure.

The Ugandan health minister said the recent cases meant the risk had not ended and further underscored the need to “remain vigilant”.

“We share a border with [DR Congo], where transmission continues, and our communities remain closely connected through trade, travel and family ties,” Baryomunsi said.

The disease spreads from one person to another by contact with infected bodily fluids such as blood or vomit.

The Bundibugyo species of Ebola behind this outbreak is relatively rare and there is still no vaccine or specific treatment – though trials are under way.