‘Second wave’ of Ebola virus confirmed in eastern Congo

Safe burials complicate work

KINSHASA, Oct 14, (Agencies): A second wave of the Ebola virus has been confirmed in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where an initial outbreak has already killed 125 people, a minister said Saturday.

The latest wave is centred in Beni, a town in North Kivu near the border with Uganda, said Health Minister Dr Oly Ilunga.

“We don’t yet know the scale of it,” he added. “The epicentre, which was in Mangina is now in Beni.” The two towns lie about 20 kilometres (12 miles) apart.

This second wave occurred as a result of community resistance to measures taken to tackle the disease, Ilunga said.

“The epidemic in Beni is high risk.. and the situation is worrying.”

Two new cases were confirmed in the Beni region, according to health ministry statistics published Saturday, taking the total to 127 in the area since Aug 1. There were 35 other suspected cases.

Concern

On Friday, the World Health Organization expressed concern over the growing number of cases in recent weeks, especially in Beni.

The latest outbreak is the 10th in DR Congo since Ebola was first detected there in 1976.

Officials in Beni have announced measures to protect health workers after a number of incidents where response teams were assaulted.

Fears and misconceptions about the virus have led to widespread mistrust and resistance to Ebola response workers, including those who come into communities wearing hazmat suits to orchestrate burials.

A staff member of the UN peacekeeper mission MONUSCO was among the latest victims of the virus, the UN and health ministry said.

The work of health officials is also hampered by violence in a region which has long been ravaged by armed conflict.

A runaway hearse carrying an Ebola victim has become the latest example of sometimes violent community resistance complicating efforts to contain a Congo outbreak – and causing a worrying new rise in cases.

The deadly virus’ appearance for the first time in the far northeast has sparked fear. Suspected contacts of infected people have tried to slip away. Residents have assaulted health teams. The rate of new Ebola cases has more than doubled since the start of this month, experts say.

Safe burials are particularly sensitive as some outraged family members reject the intervention of health workers in the deeply personal moment, even as they put their own lives at risk.

On Wednesday, a wary peace was negotiated over the body of an Ebola victim, one of 95 deaths among 172 confirmed cases so far, Congo’s health ministry said. Her family demanded that an acquaintance drive the hearse, while they agreed to wear protective gear to carry the casket. A police vehicle would follow.

On the way to the cemetery, however, the hearse peeled away “at full speed,” the ministry said. A violent confrontation followed with local youth once the hearse was found at the family’s own burial plot elsewhere. The procession eventually reached the cemetery by day’s end.

The next day, with a better understanding of what was at stake, several family members appeared voluntarily at a hospital for Ebola vaccinations, the ministry said.

“They swore no one had manipulated the corpse,” it added. Ebola spreads via bodily fluids of those infected, including the dead.

The Beni community where the confrontation occurred is at the center of Ebola containment efforts. To the alarm of the World Health Organization and others, it is also where community resistance has been the most persistent – and where many of the new cases are found.

Mistrust

Chronic mistrust after years of rebel attacks is part of the “toxic mix” in Beni, WHO’s emergencies chief, Peter Salama, said in a Twitter post.

So far, the Ebola work in Beni has been suspended twice since the outbreak was declared on Aug 1. A “dead city” of mourning in response to a rebel attack caused the first. Wednesday’s violence caused the second. With each pause, crucial efforts to track thousands of possible Ebola contacts can slide, risking further infections.

Defending themselves, Beni residents have pointed out the shock of having one of the world’s most notorious diseases appear along with strangers in biohazard suits who tell them how to say goodbye to loved ones killed by the virus.