Key Takeaways
- A nurse was killed and another response worker seriously injured in an attack in Bafwasende, according to the United Nations.
- WHO reported 9,704 confirmed cases and 4,687 deaths in the Democratic Republic of the Congo as of October 20, 2026.
- The Bundibugyo virus outbreak has spread across eight provinces in Congo, with imported cases also reported in Kenya and Nigeria.
Attacked while answering an Ebola alert
A nurse was killed and a second health worker severely injured on Saturday, October 24, when they were attacked by protesters in Bafwasende, a rural town in Tshopo province, while responding to an Ebola alert, the United Nations said. The injured worker remains in hospital.
Julien Harneis, the UN's Senior Ebola Response Coordinator, issued a statement extending condolences to the nurse's family and colleagues. "I strongly condemn this attack and call for a thorough investigation," he said. "I urge communities to protect health workers and allow them to carry out their work safely."
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus condemned the killing on X: "Everyone working to protect communities from this deadly disease must be able to work in dignity and safety. Healthcare must always be protected."
The deadliest outbreak in Congo's history
The outbreak, caused by the Bundibugyo virus — for which there is currently no approved vaccine — was declared on May 15. According to recent WHO figures cited by the UN, more than 9,760 cases and some 4,727 deaths have been recorded in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, making it the deadliest Ebola outbreak in the country's history.
What began in the volatile east has now reached eight provinces: Bas-Uélé, Haut-Uélé, Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu, Sud Ubangi, Tshopo and Nord-Ubangi. Uganda, which defeated its own smaller outbreak in August, moved on Sunday to tighten its defences, imposing a 21-day quarantine on citizens returning from Congo and stepping up screening at Entebbe airport and land borders, according to Associated Press reporting.
The virus has already crossed borders
France, Kenya and Nigeria have also reported cases. Nigeria confirmed its first case last week — a woman who had travelled from Uganda. She and her husband, both Swiss citizens, were medically evacuated to Switzerland on Monday morning; she is clinically stable, and Nigeria is monitoring 52 contacts.
WHO's regional director for Africa, Dr. Mohamed Janabi, called Nigeria's handling of the case "a remarkable achievement," while warning that vigilance remains critical.
The Twikup Take
An outbreak this size is beaten by trust as much as by medicine — responders can only trace contacts and isolate cases where communities let them in. Every attack on a health worker does the virus's work for it, and Bafwasende shows the response is now fighting fear and fury alongside Ebola itself.
Photo: MONUSCO Photos / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0) — health workers in protective gear spray disinfectant during a visit by UN Secretary-General António Guterres to the Mangina Ebola Treatment Centre, which included meeting Ebola survivors and the discharge of patients.