The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) have warned of the consequences of escalating armed attacks in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, saying the deteriorating security situation is hampering efforts to contain the Ebola outbreak, which has killed more than 5,400 people since May.
The Centres said an attack carried out on 5 November by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a group linked to the "Islamic State" organisation, on a town in North Kivu province killed 66 civilians, including three health workers.
For its part, the World Health Organization (WHO) said the attack led to three health facilities being looted and burned, contact being lost with three patients confirmed to be infected with the virus, and more than 1,000 people who had been in contact with infected cases no longer being followed up.
The organisation warned that continued violence is restricting medical teams' access to affected areas and hampering early detection of infections and contact tracing, making it harder to bring the outbreak under control.
