Ebola in Congo: A fight far from over

Outbreak ‘clearly outpacing the response effort’

DRC health authorities say that as of September 12 there were 7,200 confirmed cases and a death toll of 3,475. The fatality rate stands at 48.3 percent.

NHK spoke with Sonoda Aya of the nongovernmental organization Doctors Without Borders.

Sonoda worked in the DRC’s Ituri Province, one of the regions at the center of the outbreak. As a health promoter, she has been helping coordinate community-based efforts to curb Ebola’s spread.

Sonoda says the response on the ground is not keeping pace with the rapid spread of the virus. She also says the outbreak is being driven by the Bundibugyo strain, which has no approved vaccine, making containment efforts even more difficult.

“My impression was that the current outbreak is clearly outpacing the response effort. That was my honest assessment,” Sonoda says. “The treatment center where I worked expanded its capacity from 60 to 90 beds to meet growing demand. During my time there, from early July to mid-August, the facility was operating at or near full capacity almost every day. New patients were arriving daily.”

“We currently have no way to directly treat the virus itself, which makes medical care extremely challenging. In addition, many patients arrive at treatment centers in a critical condition, making it difficult for them to recover in many cases.”

But Sonoda says the outbreak can be contained if health workers are able to safely isolate and transport patients, trace contacts and detect new cases in the early stages. But containment also requires the cooperation and understanding of local communities.

She says Ebola is not only a medical issue, but also one with far-reaching social and cultural implications. She adds that community engagement and health promotion are crucial to stopping Ebola’s transmission.

Addressing deep-rooted traditions is key

The Ebola response has had to address deeply rooted cultural traditions. An example is burial rites. It is customary in the DRC for relatives to touch the deceased as a final farewell. Experts say this played a role in spreading the disease during past outbreaks.

Sonoda and her team have been making efforts to explain the risks and the need for safe burials.

Sonoda explains that the bodies of Ebola victims are first taken to a morgue. Families are then informed that traditional burial practices cannot be followed and that they must not touch the deceased. She says relatives are allowed to view the faces of loved ones through a glass partition in a separate room, helping prevent infection while enabling families to say their final goodbyes.

Misinformation spreading faster than the virus

A new challenge has also surfaced: misinformation. Rumors and false claims have circulated widely on social media, sometimes triggering violence, including arson.

Sonoda spoke directly with residents, sharing accurate information while building trust through community engagement.

She says rumors have spread in some communities that people who go to Ebola treatment centers will die, causing some to hesitate in seeking medical care at an early stage. She says this reluctance can have life-threatening consequences.

To address the problem, response teams engage with community leaders, youth groups and women’s groups, while also encouraging religious leaders to share public health messages with their communities.

Insufficient international attention

Sonoda says another factor hindering response efforts is a lack of international attention. She worries that other humanitarian crises around the world are overshadowing the Ebola outbreak.

“I don’t think the international media or the international community is paying enough attention to this humanitarian crisis,” Sonoda says. “If more attention were given to the outbreak and more resources were made available, many more lives could be saved.”

US scales back international humanitarian aid

The DRC has been drawing on past lessons. But a big difference during this outbreak is that there is no single country taking the lead in international efforts.

During the West Africa outbreak in 2014, then-US President Barack Obama ordered the deployment of around 3,000 US troops to support the response.

This time, there’s been no international mobilization on that scale.

The Trump administration has withdrawn from the World Health Organization and has largely scaled back international humanitarian aid.

Takuma Kayo, a professor at Keio University specializing in global health governance, says these moves are complicating coordination between the WHO and other countries. That makes it harder to provide essential treatment on the ground and to contain the spread of the disease.

Takuma points out that since the US can no longer be heavily relied upon, all countries need to play their part and work together in cooperating with organizations like Doctors Without Borders.

Unlike during the COVID-19 pandemic, many living outside Africa may not feel the Ebola crisis poses an immediate threat. But if left unaddressed, the virus could potentially spread to other countries ― and continents.

That happened in 2014 when some people who contracted Ebola in Africa entered the US and Europe, spreading it among medical workers there.

The outbreak serves as a reminder that preparing for ― and responding to ― infectious diseases is a global challenge.