A senior member of the Democratic Republic of the Congo's ruling party was beaten to death after appearing on a radio programme to raise awareness about the Ebola outbreak, a party representative has said.
Marie-Celestin Karondwa, the acting president of the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS) party's federal executive committee in Butembo, was attacked after taking part in a radio show during which he promoted prevention measures for the disease, the UDPS federation said in a statement.
The party said the attackers beat Karondwa, stole his belongings and set his house on fire. He later died from his injuries.
It was not immediately clear who carried out the attack, how many people were involved, or what motivated it. The party said Karondwa was "an innocent victim for having defended the party's position on the existence of the Ebola virus disease … and the threat it poses to the population."
Butembo is a new hotspot for the current outbreak.
Karondwa's death follows a series of attacks on healthcare workers and treatment centres that experts say are fuelled by rumours, misinformation and distrust of health responders.
The incidents have included violence, riots, property damage and disruption of essential services. On Saturday, armed men attacked a hand-washing checkpoint in the nearby Beni territory, killing at least one person and wounding several others, according to a local civil society group.
The current outbreak is caused by the rare Bundibugyo virus, for which there is no approved treatment or vaccine. It was first announced on 15 May and has since infected 8,067 people and killed 3,901, according to data from the DRC's health ministry. Cases have been confirmed in seven provinces.
The outbreak is the largest and deadliest in the DRC's history, and the second deadliest globally, surpassed only by the 2014–16 outbreak in West Africa, which infected more than 28,600 people and killed more than 11,000.
Data from the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention shows the current outbreak has outpaced that West African one. Last month, the World Health Organization warned it was on track to surpass it entirely.
Experts say the spread of the disease has been intensified by several factors, including armed conflict, aid cuts and ongoing attacks on healthcare workers and treatment centres.
