Ebola treatment center in Congo set on fire as fear and anger over disease's spread grow

People set fire to an Ebola treatment center in Rwampara, a town in eastern Congo at the heart of the outbreak. Local youths burned the facility after police stopped them from retrieving the body of a friend believed to have died of Ebola. Fear and anger are rising as health workers struggle to contain a rare virus in a region with limited health facilities and ongoing armed conflict that drives population movement. Ebola deaths require careful handling of bodies because they are highly contagious and can spread the virus during burial preparation and funerals. Authorities manage burial of suspected victims, but families and friends sometimes protest when protocols conflict with local burial rites.

"The center in Rwampara was burned by local youths who became angry while trying to retrieve the body of a friend who had apparently died of Ebola, according to a witness who spoke to The Associated Press by telephone. "The police intervened to try to calm the situation, but unfortunately they were unsuccessful," said Alexis Burata, a local student who said he was in the area. "The young people ended up setting fire to the center. That's the situation.""

Read at Cbsnews