Armed Men Abduct 6 Year Old Ebola Patient From DRC Hospital
Last update: June 17, 2026
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It’s the nightmare scenario health workers dread: a child with Ebola snatched from her hospital bed by men with knives, now missing along with her mother.
Authorities in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo are now frantically searching for a six year old Ebola patient and her mother, after armed men stormed the hospital where they were being treated, cbinews.tv reports.
The girl was taken from Wanamahika Hospital in Butembo by what local health official Dr Lubambo Maboko Gaston described as “very angry” men carrying knives.
It’s still not clear if the men knew the child. But suspicion and fear around Ebola treatment centres have been widespread throughout this outbreak.
Speaking to reporters, Dr Gaston urged the pair to return to a health centre, warning they risked “worsening their health” and “infecting their relatives” if they stayed away.
Sadly, this isn’t the first time treatment facilities have come under attack. During this outbreak alone, there have been almost 200 deaths and 840 confirmed cases.
Just last month, police in the town of Mongbwalu had to fire shots into the air after angry crowds tried to take back the bodies of loved ones who had died at a health facility.
And days before that, crowds in Rwampara, about 85km south east of Mongbwalu, set fire to isolation tents after being stopped from collecting the body of a man believed to have died from Ebola.
The problem is, the body of someone who has died from Ebola is highly infectious. When prepared for burial without proper precautions, it can cause the virus to spread even further.
This particular outbreak is being caused by a rare strain known as Bundibugyo. As cbinews.tv notes, there’s currently no vaccine for it, and the World Health Organisation says it could take months before a jab is ready.
Right now, cases are concentrated in the provinces of Ituri, South Kivu and North Kivu. The six year old girl was taken from the hospital in North Kivu on Monday. Ituri remains the main centre of transmission.
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