A senior politician in the Democratic Republic of Congo has been beaten to death after appearing on a local radio programme to raise awareness about the country's ongoing Ebola outbreak. Marie-Celestin Karondwa, the acting president of the federal executive committee of the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS) party in Butembo — a city in eastern DRC that has become a new hotspot for the disease — was attacked following his appearance on the show, in which he promoted prevention measures against Ebola. His attackers beat him, stole his belongings and set his house on fire; he later died from his injuries. His party said he 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." It was not immediately clear who carried out the attack or how many people were involved.
The killing is the latest in a series of attacks on healthcare workers, treatment centres and now public figures linked to the Ebola response. Experts say the violence is driven by rumours, misinformation and deep distrust of health authorities in the region. The day before Karondwa's death, armed men attacked a hand-washing checkpoint in the nearby Beni territory, killing at least one person and wounding several others.
The current outbreak, caused by the rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola — for which there is no approved treatment or vaccine — was first announced on 15 May. It has since infected more than 8,000 people and killed 3,901, making it the largest and deadliest outbreak in DRC history. Globally, it is second only to the 2014–16 epidemic in West Africa, which infected more than 28,600 people and killed over 11,000 — though the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention notes the current outbreak has been spreading faster. Last month, the World Health Organization warned it was on track to surpass the West African outbreak, with conflict, aid cuts and anti-response violence all accelerating the spread. The WHO has said trials for three potential Bundibugyo vaccines could begin by October or November, and a test vaccination programme using a jab developed for a different strain has already been launched.
International support for the response has been growing. On the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly last week, the European Union announced a €7.5 million aid package specifically for the Ebola crisis, with a broader commitment to long-term health surveillance capacity. The United States separately released an additional $267 million to support the fight against the epidemic. Despite this international backing, the attacks on those working to contain the outbreak — whether healthcare workers or local politicians — underscore the profound challenges facing responders on the ground. Ebola, first identified in 1976 in what is now the DRC, spreads through body fluids and contaminated materials, causing organ damage and potentially fatal internal and external bleeding.