The fight against the spread of Ebola in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is significantly complicated by misinformation. Many locals deny the existence of the virus or believe that drinking strong alcohol will protect them. Fighting between the army and rebels from the March 23 Movement (M23) also continues there. TASR informs about this according to Tuesday’s reports of the agencies DPA and AFP.
- Misinformation and myths keep many people in eastern Congo in denial about Ebola.
- In the province of Ituri, up to a third of the population considers Ebola to be a myth.
- Locals attack hospitals and isolation tents, which significantly endangers health workers.
- M23 rebels attack with mortars and drones near Kisangani and North Kivu.
- The Bundibugyo variant is circulating in the area with no available vaccine and no specific treatment.
V epicenter of the pandemic (Ituri province) up to a third of people consider Ebola a myth, ActionAid warned.
“We’re not just fighting a deadly virus, we’re fighting myths, fear and deep-rooted mistrust,” said ActionAid’s director in the DRC, Saani Yakubu. His organization is therefore conducting a large-scale information campaign to convince people to observe the necessary precautions.
DPA reminds that misinformation and myths in recent days have led to several incidents between health workers and local residents. On Sunday, a group of people broke into a hospital in the town of Mungwalu, and on Friday they set fire to an isolation tent in front of it. Armed groups also complicate the situation. Several of them tried to use the spread of the virus to achieve political and financial advantages during past epidemics.
There is a tense situation at the eastern borders of the DRC, where The Rwandan-backed M23 has been fighting government forces for several days. According to AFP sources, armed clashes are taking place in the Masisi region of North Kivu province, which lies south of Ituri.
The deputy governor of North Kivu province, Didier Lomoyo, announced on Monday that insurgents attacked the Kisangani army airfield with mortars, while a police source said they had neutralized two drones “without causing any damage”.
The director general of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus drew attention to these circumstances on Monday. He described the epidemic in the DRC as “extremely serious and difficult” and warned neighboring countries against the spread of the disease. According to him, the eastern provinces of the DRC, where the outbreak of the disease was first detected on May 15, are “very unstable, fighting has intensified there in recent months (and) there is also considerable mistrust of external authorities among the local population”.
So far, health workers have registered 906 people suspected of being infected, including 105 confirmed cases. In total, up to 223 people could have died from Ebola. A variant of the virus called Bundibugyo is spreading in the area, which has a lower mortality rate, but there is no approved vaccine or specific treatment for it.
