Ebola response nurse killed in Bafwasende, DR Congo
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Actualité.cd
A nurse involved in the Ebola response was killed by protesters on 24 October in Bafwasende, Tshopo province, according to initial information from the Provincial Health Division. The United Nations response office condemned the killing and called for an investigation, while urging communities to protect health workers.
A nurse involved in the Ebola response was killed on Saturday 24 October 2026 in Bafwasende, Tshopo province, while taking part in efforts to contain the epidemic. The killing was condemned by the Office of the United Nations Senior Ebola Response Coordinator, led by Julien Harneis, which called for a thorough investigation, according to a statement published on Sunday and cited by Actualité.cd.
Young people violently attacked the nurse and a primary school headteacher, who was also involved in the Ebola response, accusing them of spreading the virus in a water source. The chief medical officer of the Bafwasende health zone, Dr Likilo Marcel, said the nurse died at the scene and the headteacher was seriously injured.
The two men were returning from their fields when they were attacked near the general hospital. Dr Marcel reported other recent attacks on health workers and their relatives, including the burning of a community health worker’s house and an assault on a nurse’s child.
The attack comes after Ebola spread to Nord-Ubangi, announced on 15 October in the eighth province affected in DR Congo. The United Nations office is calling on communities to protect those working to contain the epidemic.
