On Friday, the Ebola hospital at Butembo was attacked by militia members. The epidemiologist Dr. Richard Valery Mouzoko Kiboung was killed by the attackers in the hospital. The attackers attempted to burn the Ebola center at the city of Butembo on Friday night. Dr. Mouzoko was from Cameroon, was arrived at the Congo just a few weeks ago. World Health Organization recruited hundreds of Ebola disease expert to prevent the outbreak of Ebola. Dr. Mouzoko was one of the disease expert assigned to lead the team of health experts in Ebola hospital at Butembo. The epidemiologist was very efficient and good at his work.
One of his colleagues in that hospital has revealed some information about Dr. Mouzoko. Due to a series of attacks on Ebola hospitals, Dr. Mouzoko was uneasy about staying there in Butembo, said his colleague. When burial team and health workers enter an affected area, some of the communities threatened and attacked them with stones. Some gunmen also attacked two Ebola centers than in February. The doctor was scared by the situation around him and was willing to return to Cameroon. Dr. Mouzoko has four children and a wife in Cameroon, so he was worried about the worsening condition.
His colleague revealed the fear of Dr. Mouzoko, said on the ground operation head of WHO, Dr. Michel Yao. The worst fear of Dr. Mouzoko comes true on Friday night. Two gunmen rushed into the conference room where Dr. Mouzoko was leading a meeting. The attackers snatched the equipment and cell phones from the staffs first. Then they shoot the doctor on the chest and killed him. Two people of the hospital are injured in the shooting. After the attack on Friday night, a group of people attempted to burn another Ebola center on Saturday early morning.
The exact motive behind both the attacks is not clear yet, says Yao. It is assumed that the attackers are from the community who believe the disease Ebola doesn’t exist. According to them, the disease was invented by the health officials to make money from people. The regions where the outbreak of Ebola was huge; many communities are there who believe Ebola doesn’t exist. So they attacked the Ebola centers in that area. The distrust of these communities on government leads to attack on health workers working in those areas.
The repeated attack on Ebola centers disrupts the treatment. The vaccination for the disease and precautions has reduced the number of cases in those areas. Before the major attack on Ebola center in February there were only 30 new cases of the disease were reported, but after the attack, the number has increased to 70. The number is around 110 currently. The repeated violation scared the health workers working there. The safety and security of the staffs are at risk due to these attacks. Working in Ebola centers is becoming dangerous for health workers. The doctors and other health officials have expressed their fear after Dr. Mouzoko was killed in the attack.