DRC POLITICIAN KARONDWA BEATEN TO DEATH AFTER EBOLA INTERVIEW

Marie-Celestin Karondwa, acting president of the Union for Democracy and Social Progress's (UDPS) federal executive committee in Butembo, North Kivu, was beaten to death on Sunday, the party said. He was attacked after appearing on a radio programme promoting measures to prevent the spread of Ebola, the UDPS said, according to Reuters. Attackers beat him, stole his belongings and set his house on fire, and he later died of his injuries, the party said. It remains unclear who carried out the attack or what motivated it, though the party said those blamed were believed to be local residents.

Butembo has become a hotspot in the Democratic Republic of Congo's Ebola outbreak. Karondwa's death follows a series of attacks on healthcare workers, which experts say have been fuelled by rumours and misinformation about the disease. On Saturday, armed men attacked a hand-washing checkpoint in nearby Beni territory, killing at least one person and wounding several others, a local group said. Reports attribute the current outbreak to the rare Bundibugyo strain, for which there is no approved treatment or vaccine.

Government data released on Monday recorded at least 8,067 infections and 3,901 deaths in the outbreak. The World Health Organisation said the continued high fatality rate reflected challenges in detecting cases quickly and treating patients early. It also warned of a shortage of healthcare workers, with at least 50 having died since the outbreak was declared on 15 May, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. Reports describe it as the largest and deadliest Ebola outbreak recorded in the DRC's history, and second only to the 2014 outbreak in West Africa.