Various rumors and widespread mistrust persist in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo as the region battles an Ebola epidemic.
Many people in eastern Congo are struggling to understand the epidemic that swept through Ituri province last month. By the time authorities declared the outbreak on May 15, dozens had already died, and the virus had been spreading undetected for weeks.
Some families still relied on aloe vera as a remedy for their ailments.
From the rumors I hear, people don’t believe in Ebola, and now they’re afraid to go to the hospital. Once they get sick, they prefer to stay home, and if they have to die, they want to die at home, because if someone dies in the hospital, it’s assumed to be Ebola, and people take the body home to bury it however they want. Families no longer have the freedom to bury their loved ones the way they used to,” said Chantie Joe Kiss, a homemaker.
Because Ebola victims remain highly contagious after death, authorities must supervise burials, preventing families from practicing their traditional funeral rites.
“We don’t know what kind of disease Ebola is. We’re stunned. We don’t even know what the body of someone who died of Ebola looks like. We only see images on our phones, and people are creating doctored images. They’re editing photos of people who supposedly died of Ebola. They can even take red juice and apply it to a person, and those who see the image will believe it’s real blood.”
Others have mentioned rumors that Western NGOs invented Ebola to obtain funding, or that an Ebola vaccine was being administered to the population to infect them.
Several people told the Associated Press they had heard that Ebola was being brought into local homes through the sewer system.
“I will not get vaccinated. It’s not clear. I’ve heard rumors that, at the hospital, the vaccines are actually designed to infect people with the Ebola virus. So, instead of receiving the cure, you catch the virus. That’s what we know, and that’s why I won’t get vaccinated, and I won’t let any member of my family get vaccinated either,” said Christophe Amani, 20, a resident of Bunia.
Verite Johnson, a presenter at the Mont Bleu television and radio station in Bunia, is trying to make a difference. He believes the media has a role to play in making the population understand the seriousness of the epidemic. But the mistrust of some Congolese reflects deeper grievances in a region ravaged by decades of conflict and displacement.
