“Everyone working to protect communities from this deadly disease must be able to work in dignity and safety. Healthcare must always be protected,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the WHO, after the latest attack.
Dr Mohamed Yakub Janabi, WHO regional director for Africa, added: “Misinformation and fear must never fuel violence.”
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has recorded more than 9,800 cases including more than 4,700 deaths since the start of the outbreak in May, making it the deadliest Ebola outbreak in the country’s history.
Meanwhile, Nigeria’s first Ebola patient in a decade was evacuated to Switzerland for continued treatment as doubt remained over where she may have been infected.
The unnamed patient, who is the Ugandan-born wife of a Swiss diplomat based in Abuja, tested positive last week after returning from a holiday in Uganda.
Uganda, which says it has not recorded any cases since July, has said the woman previously travelled to DRC, but that has been denied by Swiss authorities.
Nigeria’s health minister, Muhammad Ali Pate, said the woman’s condition was improving and she was “stable, conscious, communicating, and her clinical laboratory test results closing towards baseline”.
There are no specific vaccines or treatments for the Bundibugyo virus strain behind the outbreak.