A nurse was killed and a health worker severely injured in an attack in eastern Congo while they were responding to an Ebola alert, the World Health Organization has said, in the latest violence against staff fighting the country's deadliest Ebola outbreak.

What WHO confirmed

The attack took place on Saturday in the town of Bafwasende, in Tshopo province. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus confirmed the deaths and injuries in a post on Sunday, saying that everyone working to protect communities from the disease must be able to work in dignity and safety, and that healthcare must always be protected.

WHO Regional Director for Africa Mohamed Yakub Janabi also condemned the attack, saying that misinformation and fear must never fuel violence. Local authorities had not commented on the attack or the suspects at the time of the reports, and no group was identified as responsible.

Congo's health ministry reports more than 9,800 cases and more than 4,700 deaths since the outbreak began in May, making it the deadliest Ebola outbreak in the country's history. Authorities say the violence is hampering efforts to slow an outbreak that responders describe as the fastest-growing in the world, with new hotspots emerging where support for patients is limited.

A pattern of hostility

The Bafwasende attack follows a pattern of hostility toward responders. Last month a Congolese politician was beaten to death in North Kivu after publicly defending the government's response on a radio show, and in May residents set fire to tents at health centres in two attacks within a week. Some residents dismiss Ebola as a hoax, while distrust rooted in past outbreak management and corruption has complicated the response, particularly in remote areas already short of medical supplies and health workers.

Sources: Associated Press; African Peace Magazine.