Ebola Treatment Centre Burned After Group Tried to Retrieve Body

An Ebola treatment centre in the Democratic Republic of Congo was set on fire this week after a group reportedly attempted to retrieve the body of a person who died from the virus.

According to NBC News, the facility was being used to store bodies before safe burials, a critical step in helping to contain the spread of Ebola.

Despite the incident, people suspected of carrying the virus continued arriving at the hospital for treatment, while soldiers and police were deployed to maintain order and prevent further unrest.

For Belize and the wider Caribbean, health authorities say the immediate risk remains low, but they are not taking chances. The Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) has called on member states to stay on high alert following the World Health Organization’s (WHO) declaration of a global health emergency over the ongoing outbreak.

WHO reports more than 170 deaths are linked to the outbreak, with nearly 750 suspected cases so far. Aid groups point to several factors behind the rapid escalation: weak health infrastructure in rural Congo, ethnic conflict hampering testing, and recent U.S. funding cuts to global health programs. Layoffs of health workers, shortages of medical supplies, and reduced support for WHO and USAID have left responders struggling.

Despite US officials insisting that response systems remain in place and that emergency funding has been mobilized, experts argue that years of underinvestment have left responders “on the back foot,” forcing them to airlift basic protective gear like gloves and masks to clinics.

Ebola spreads through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected persons and carries a high fatality rate.