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Ebola treatment centre in Congo reopens after attack
A suspected Ebola patient waits at an Ebola transit centre in town of Katwa near the Eastern Congolese town of Butembo in the Democratic Republic of Congo, March 25, 2019. PHOTO BY REUTERS/Baz Ratner
31/03/2019
(Reuters) - An Ebola treatment centre located at the epicentre of the current outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has resumed operations after it was attacked last month, the country's health ministry said on Saturday.
The centre run by Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) in the district of Katwa was set on fire on Feb. 24 by unknown attackers, forcing staff to evacuate patients.
It re-opened on Saturday, the ministry said in a statement.
"For now it is managed by the ministry in collaboration with the World Health Organisation (WHO) and UNICEF," it said, referring to the United Nations children's fund.
Aid workers have faced mistrust in some areas as they seek to contain the Ebola outbreak, which has become the most severe in Congo's history. The WHO has said the distrust is fueled by false rumors about treatments and preference for traditional medicine.
Another MSF centre in Butembo was also attacked in late February but reopened a week later.
MSF has pulled out from the area since the two attacks and has not said when it might resume medical activities.
The current Ebola epidemic, first declared last August, is believed to have killed at least 561 people so far and infected over 300 more.
(Reporting by Fiston Mahamba; Writing by Juliette Jabkhiro; Editing by Marie-Louise Gumuchian)
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