A confirmed Ebola patient has vanished from a treatment centre in the Democratic Republic of Congo following an armed raid, triggering an urgent evacuation of British medical personnel from the outbreak zone. Sources deep within the Foreign Office confirm the raid took place in the volatile eastern city of Goma, where a militia group stormed the facility early this morning. The patient, a 28-year-old male, was being treated for the haemorrhagic fever in a high-security ward. He is now missing, and the fear is that he may have slipped into one of the city’s sprawling, dense displacement camps. That is a nightmare scenario.
The raid was brazen. Around 2 a.m. local time, armed men in military fatigues breached the perimeter. They overpowered guards and made off with the patient. No group has claimed responsibility, but fingers are being pointed at Allied Democratic Forces fighters, who have a long history of attacking health infrastructure in the region. The WHO is calling it a 'catastrophic setback.'
For British medics on the ground, the calculation shifted instantly. The UK has a small but critical presence in Goma, part of a rapid response team deployed when the latest outbreak was declared last month. They are now being extracted under tight security. Whitehall sources say the decision to pull them was taken at the highest level, with the National Security Council meeting briefly this morning. 'This is not just about one patient,' a senior official whispered to me. 'This is about the integrity of the entire containment operation. If that man is in the camps, we are looking at a regional epidemic.'
The numbers back that up. The current outbreak has already infected 74 people, with 42 deaths. The fatality rate is hovering around 57 per cent. Before this raid, the response was being hailed as nimble and effective. Now it is unravelling. The UK medical team, around a dozen personnel, is being evacuated to Kigali, Rwanda, where they will be quarantined for 21 days. No word on whether they were exposed to the patient before he vanished.
But here is the political angle that will have Downing Street sweating. The PM has been bullish on global health security, boasting of the UK's role as a 'first responder' to disease outbreaks. This evacuation is a brutal reminder that the game can change in an instant. Backbench Tories are already muttering about mission creep and the risks to British lives. Labour will ask pointed questions about the intelligence failure that allowed the raid to happen.
And the patient? He is out there, somewhere. Viral load high. Infectious. The RAF is on standby for further evacuations if the situation deteriorates. But the real battle is now a manhunt in a city of two million, where every handshake could be a death sentence.
This is Eleanor Rigby, for the Times. Goma, DRC.
