Since the outbreak was declared on May 15, considerable progress has been made in testing capacity, Tarik Jašarević, spokesperson for the World Health Organization (WHO), told reporters in Geneva.
Tests to detect the Bundibugyo virus responsible for the outbreak are available in six locations in the country: in Bunia and Mongbwalu in the province of Ituri, in Bukavu and Lwiro in South Kivu, in Goma in North Kivu, as well as in the capital, Kinshasa.
Four more laboratories have been activated in Uganda, where cases had been imported from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with 19 confirmed cases and one probable case to date.
However, there is still room for improvement.
breaking the chain
“We have blind spots where we receive a small number of alerts,” Jašarević said. “There may be chains of transmission that are not being detected. There are still people who are at risk of infecting other people, and we need to catch them.”
Bruno Michon, director of operations for the Ebola outbreak at the United Nations partner International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), insisted that stopping the spread requires investing not only in the medical response, but also in building trust, which is time-consuming and difficult.
“But in this outbreak, it’s not optional. It saves lives,” he said.
Speaking from Bunia, the epicenter of the crisis, he said “some people still wonder if the disease is real” and believe the outbreak may have been “made up” to attract foreign aid. Others “see safe and dignified burials as an attack [on] culture and tradition, more than a measure to protect families and communities.”
Skepticism, doubt and fear have hampered the response in conflict-scarred eastern DRC due to local community distrust of outside authorities, which is significantly increasing the risk of disease transmission.
In the early days of the outbreak, two treatment centers were burned down in the region, which has been beset by intense fighting, displacing more than 100,000 people.
At the time, the WHO said PakGazette that the attacks were related to disinformation campaigns circulating on social networks.
“When people are afraid, they may not report symptoms,” Michon explained. “They may avoid treatment centers” for fear of contamination and prefer to stay home when they have a fever, “embarrassed to tell their family that they are sick,” as the disease carries a significant stigma.
“Families try to bury their loved ones according to traditional practices without knowing the level of risk involved,” he added.
Respectful approach
The IFRC official explained that trust is gained through measures aimed at allaying community concerns.
“Following community feedback, we started using body bags with a window so the family can see the face of the deceased” and begin the grieving process, he said.
“When communities told us that they feared that chlorine would be used to poison them, we did not argue. We demonstrated how disinfectants are prepared.”
“Without trust, we cannot detect cases in time,” Michon continued. “We cannot guarantee safe and dignified burials. We cannot even protect families and we cannot stop transmission.”
“Trust is not a secondary activity in the Ebola response. Trust is fundamental,” he concluded.
