Red Cross volunteers working at the heart of the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo are facing growing hostility, with a burial team in the northeastern city of Bunia recently attacked while carrying out their duties.

The volunteers were conducting what health authorities call a safe and dignified burial, a procedure designed to prevent the highly contagious virus from spreading during funeral rites. According to the International Federation of the Red Cross, several team members were injured when a crowd turned on them, disrupting the operation and forcing the responders to withdraw.

Red Cross officials condemned the assault, warning that such incidents threaten to unravel painstaking efforts to contain the disease. They stressed that volunteers, many of them drawn from the affected communities, are risking their lives to protect others and deserve protection and respect in return.

The current outbreak involves the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, a form of the virus for which there is no approved vaccine or specific treatment. Health authorities report hundreds of suspected and confirmed infections in northeastern DRC, with dozens of deaths. The virus has also crossed the border into Uganda, where additional cases and fatalities have been recorded.

As the epidemic spreads across three provinces in DRC, fear and misinformation are fuelling resistance to medical teams. In Ituri province, of which Bunia is the capital, empty treatment tents have been torched and angry residents have stormed health facilities, demanding the return of bodies for traditional burials.

Such confrontations echo patterns seen in previous Ebola emergencies, where deep mistrust of authorities and outsiders has collided with public health measures that require strict control over the handling of the dead. For many families, being denied the chance to wash, dress or touch their loved ones’ bodies is experienced as a profound cultural and spiritual violation.

To reinforce the response, the World Health Organization and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention have launched a joint, multimillion-dollar plan aimed at strengthening surveillance, treatment, and community engagement. Yet experts say that without winning local trust and ensuring the safety of frontline workers, even the most robust technical response may fall short.

For Red Cross volunteers in Bunia and beyond, the battle against Ebola is now being fought on two fronts: against a lethal virus, and against the fear and anger that allow it to spread.