Key facts
- Armed assailants took a woman and her daughter from a health center in eastern DRC.
- The six-year-old daughter had tested positive for Ebola.
- The incident occurred near Butembo in North Kivu province.
- Authorities are concerned about further spread of the virus due to the abduction.
- The attack highlights ongoing insecurity and distrust of health workers in the region.
Armed assailants abducted a woman and her daughter, who had tested positive for Ebola, from a health center in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, authorities said on Tuesday. The incident, which occurred late Monday near Butembo in North Kivu province, raises fears of further spread of the virus.
The attackers, armed with bladed weapons, stormed the clinic and took the pair away. The six-year-old child had tested positive for Ebola, according to a provincial notice. The motives of the assailants were not identified.
Dr. Lubambo Maboko Gaston, the Ebola response incident manager in North Kivu, stated that the two individuals had not yet been found and appealed for their return to an Ebola treatment center to prevent worsening their health and infecting relatives. No medical staff were injured in the attack, and the health center was not protected by security forces.