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Nurse Treating Ebola Patients Killed in Congo, Colleagues Shelter Under Police Guard

A longtime nurse was killed and a second health worker severely injured in Bafwasende, in Congo's Tshopo province, in an attack officials linked to misinformation. Other nurses are sleeping at the hospital under police guard, too afraid to go home.

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Nurse Treating Ebola Patients Killed in Congo, Colleagues Shelter Under Police Guard

Key points

  • Health workers in eastern Congo are sheltering under police guard after youths killed a longtime nurse who treated Ebola patients in the town of Bafwasende, health officials said on Monday.
  • The nurse worked at the general hospital in Bafwasende, in Tshopo province, where he helped residents understand the virus and protect themselves.
  • Other health workers are sheltering at the hospital under police guard, too afraid to go home, and the army briefly deployed to the area, the local health official told Reuters.

Health workers in eastern Congo are sheltering under police guard after youths killed a longtime nurse who treated Ebola patients in the town of Bafwasende, health officials said on Monday. A second health worker was severely injured in the attack and is recovering in hospital, Reuters reported.

The attack in Bafwasende

The nurse worked at the general hospital in Bafwasende, in Tshopo province, where he helped residents understand the virus and protect themselves. A local health official told Reuters that he was attacked and killed on Friday, October 23. The World Health Organization gave a different day: its director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said in a post on X on Sunday that the attack took place on Saturday, October 24, while the nurse was responding to an Ebola alert, the Associated Press and UN News reported. The two accounts differ on the day.

Other health workers are sheltering at the hospital under police guard, too afraid to go home, and the army briefly deployed to the area, the local health official told Reuters.

"We are shocked at how the population turned against this nurse. It is impossible to believe that he was mistaken for a stranger," the official told Reuters. "None of the nurses have slept at their homes because they fear for their security."

UN News reported the response coordinator's account that youths accused the responders of contaminating water sources and spreading the disease before attacking them.

Condemnation from the UN and the WHO

Julien Harneis, the UN Senior Ebola Response Coordinator, condemned the killing. "I strongly condemn this attack and call for a thorough investigation. I urge communities to protect health workers and allow them to carry out their work safely," he said. Writing on X on Sunday, he called the killing "a loss to the Ebola response and an even greater loss to patients."

Tedros said: "Everyone working to protect communities from this deadly disease must be able to work in dignity and safety. Healthcare must always be protected." Dr. Mohamed Yakub Janabi, the WHO Regional Director for Africa, wrote on X: "Misinformation and fear must never fuel violence."

The deadliest Ebola outbreak in Congo's history

The outbreak is the deadliest in Congo's history. The totals differ by source and by date. Congo's public health institute reported 9,964 confirmed cases on Friday, October 23, with a fatality rate of about 48.6 percent, Reuters reported. UN News, citing recent WHO figures, put the count at more than 9,760 cases and some 4,727 deaths since the outbreak was declared on May 15. The Associated Press, citing the health ministry's most recent data, reported more than 9,800 cases, including more than 4,700 deaths.

Tshopo is one of eight provinces fighting the outbreak of the Bundibugyo species of the Ebola virus. UN News listed the affected provinces as Bas-Uele, Haut-Uele, Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu, Sud Ubangi, Tshopo and Nord-Ubangi. There is currently no approved vaccine for the Bundibugyo virus.

A pattern of attacks on the response

The killing is not the first attack on the response. The local health official told Reuters that youths in the area had previously attacked another colleague and set his house on fire. Last month, a Congolese politician was beaten to death in North Kivu after publicly defending the government's response to Ebola on a radio show, the Associated Press reported.

Timeline

  1. May 15, 2026Congo declares an outbreak of the Bundibugyo species of the Ebola virus. The outbreak later becomes the deadliest in the country's history.
  2. Oct 24, 2026The WHO says a nurse responding to an Ebola alert in Bafwasende was killed on this Saturday and a health worker severely injured. A local health official told Reuters the attack happened a day earlier, on Friday.
  3. Oct 26, 2026Reuters reports health workers sheltering under police guard at the Bafwasende general hospital, and UN News publishes the condemnation from the UN and the WHO.

Sources