Persons unknown burned an Ebola treatment center in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Saturday, an official said, amid efforts to contain an outbreak caused by the Bundibugyo virus.
The incident took place in Bafwasende, a rural town in the north-central Tsopo province in the early morning, according to Marcel Likilo, a medical doctor in charge of the particular health zone.
The incident occurred just one week after mob lynched a health worker while responding to an Ebola alert in the area.
Two rooms reserved for suspected cases were burned before local guards intervened and the fire was put out, Likilo told reporters in the provincial capital Kisangani.
He said doctors deployed in the health zone to support the Ebola response fled to Kisangani and suspected cases which were at the center were transferred to Nia-Nia in the neighboring Ituri province.
Community resistance remains a challenge to efforts aimed at containing the virus, health officials said.
The latest Health Ministry figures showed confirmed Ebola cases have crossed 10,000, including more than 5,000 deaths since mid-May.
