Protests Erupt in DR Congo Over Ebola Response An Ebola outbreak colliding with fury and conspiracy theories has turned parts of eastern DR Congo into a battleground between public health and public distrust.

On Thursday in Ituri province, relatives of a young man believed to have died from Ebola clashed with authorities at Rwampara hospital after being refused his body for burial. Demonstrators hurled projectiles at Ebola treatment tents, setting two of them ablaze and forcing the evacuation of six patients being treated inside. A local politician described “complete chaos” as the fire spread through the makeshift isolation units.

As security forces fired warning shots to disperse the crowd, one health worker was injured by stones, and medical staff were placed under military protection. The government insists the refusal to release the body followed international guidelines: Ebola corpses are highly infectious, and the World Health Organization mandates “safe and dignified burials” to prevent further spread.

Behind the flames is a deeper rupture of trust. Many locals simply do not believe Ebola is real. Witnesses quoted in pro-government media say some residents insist the virus is “a lie” or “invented by foreigners,” accusing NGOs and hospitals of fabricating the disease “for money.” The dead man’s own mother reportedly maintains he died of typhoid, not Ebola.

Meanwhile, the epidemic is widening. Authorities have confirmed a case in South Kivu, hundreds of kilometers from Ituri, with doctors warning the Bundibugyo strain may have been “spreading for two months” before detection. At least 160 deaths are now linked to the outbreak, which has also reached neighboring Uganda and triggered an international public-health alert.

Kinshasa officials are publicly outraged. A government spokesperson condemned the Rwampara mob for doing “exactly what they must not do,” arguing that burning treatment centers only fuels a crisis already running ahead of the response.