DR Congo, Uganda Ebola Cases Rise Amid Attacks on Health Workers

Johannesburg (Yonhap News) = Reporter Na Hwak-jin = As confirmed Ebola cases continue to increase in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Uganda, concerns about the spread are growing due to repeated incidents of bodies being stolen or medical personnel being attacked in protest against burial procedure regulations by quarantine authorities.

According to Reuters and Xinhua News Agency on the 4th (local time), residents in Katana, South Kivu Province, eastern DRC, attacked the quarantine authorities' burial response team on the 2nd and then handled the body themselves for a funeral.

In Bunia, the capital of Ituri Province in the northeast, one of the epicenters of this outbreak, residents also attacked the burial response team on the same day, injuring at least four people.

The DRC health authorities believe that local funeral customs, such as touching the body or clothes of the deceased during funerals, can cause Ebola infection. Therefore, for Ebola-suspected or confirmed deaths, they are ensuring 'safe and dignified funerals' according to quarantine procedures through the burial response team.

However, since late last month, when relatives and friends of an Ebola-suspected deceased in Rwampala, Ituri Province, protested by setting fire to a treatment center tent because they could not immediately handle the body, the funeral teams and medical staff have been repeatedly subjected to similar attacks.

It is known that some bereaved families claimed that the deceased was not infected with Ebola.

Mohamed Fall, Director of the WHO Africa Regional Office, said, "The health authorities are currently fighting two epidemics: Ebola itself and misinformation."

According to the DRC government's recent announcement, as of the 2nd, the cumulative number of confirmed Ebola cases in the DRC was 363, an increase of 19 in one day. The number of confirmed deaths was 62, an increase of 2 from the previous day, and 206 patients were in isolation for treatment.

In neighboring Uganda, one new confirmed case was added on the same day, bringing the total to 16 confirmed cases, one of whom died, the Ugandan Ministry of Health said.

Meanwhile, Kenyan President William Ruto has repeatedly expressed his support for the US government's establishment of an Ebola isolation facility for Americans in Kenya, saying it is "the right thing to do."

President Ruto, who is on a state visit to South Africa, said at a press conference on the same day, "It would have looked very inhumane if we had refused when the United States asked to build the facility at its own expense," adding, "We can tell anyone that we are doing the right thing."

A 50-bed Ebola isolation and treatment facility is currently being built at the US Air Force base in Laikipia, central Kenya.

The Kenyan court ordered a temporary halt to the related construction on the 28th of last month, and since then, protests against the construction of the facility have been fierce, resulting in at least two deaths.

The US Embassy in Kenya said it is currently in talks with the Kenyan government to resolve legal and administrative issues.