The Ebola outbreak, caused by the Bundibugyo virus, was officially confirmed on May 15th, although it had been circulating for several weeks or even months. In the gold-mining town of Mongbavu, local authorities estimate that over 80 people died before anyone raised the alarm. Since there is no approved vaccine or treatment for this strain, the response is primarily based on behavioral measures: reporting cases, isolating patients, and safely burying the deceased.
Misinformation directly undermines these measures. According to ActionAid, nearly one in three residents in the Ituri epicenter do not believe Ebola is real. Patients either delay seeking care or do not come at all. Crowds have invaded treatment centers, refusing to accept a relative's death from the disease, which allows suspected patients to flee. Last Saturday, a nurse was killed while responding to an alert in the Tchopo province.
The World Health Organization (WHO), through its Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, warned that disinformation is 'almost as dangerous as the virus itself.'
It is easy to dismiss these beliefs as ignorance, but available data suggests otherwise. A survey conducted by the journal Lancet Infectious Diseases among 961 adult residents of Beni and Butembo during the 2018 outbreak showed that more than a quarter of respondents believed Ebola did not exist. One third believed the disease was invented for money, and 36 percent thought it was intended to destabilize the region. People holding such views were less likely to seek medical help or agree to vaccination.
Between August 2018 and November 2019, researchers recorded 386 attacks on healthcare workers and facilities in Congo, resulting in seven deaths. Eight years later, the same theories have resurfaced, now mixed with mineral interests. These beliefs are not random fantasies; they represent conclusions drawn by people in a region neglected by Kinshasa, affected by armed groups, and visited for decades by outsiders arriving with vehicles and promises, only to leave.
Studies conducted during the previous outbreak revealed resistance due to poor care in treatment centers, the cancellation of traditional burials, and distrust of foreigners who seemed to profit from the crisis. When a family is notified of a relative's death and the body is removed in a sealed manner, rumors fill the silence.
Last year provided a contrasting example. The outbreak in the Kasai province led to 64 cases and 45 deaths, after which it was declared over on December 1, 2025. Authorities implemented a community protection plan alongside the medical response, deploying engagement teams to communicate with residents, and over 35,000 people were vaccinated.
The author does not claim this proves everything. The strain circulating in Kasai was one for which a vaccine had been developed, and there was no armed conflict plaguing Ituri. Nevertheless, the comparison offers certain lessons. A response that includes a vaccine offers people something in return for cooperation. The current situation largely demands sacrifice: isolation, abandonment of rituals, and obedience to a stranger. Without a vaccine, trust becomes the main tool, and it is being squandered.
The stakes here are not abstract. This outbreak has already exceeded one-third of the 28,652 cases registered in the West Africa epidemic from 2014 to 2016, which claimed 11,325 lives.
Leaflets and radio spots will not solve this problem. Four changes are necessary. First, timely payment of staff salaries. Last week, monitoring and community outreach staff in the Nia Nia health zone announced a strike over unpaid bonuses dating back to late August. A healthcare worker who is not paid is the best evidence for those who claim money is disappearing.
Second, allowing families to properly bury their dead. Relatives must be present, and rituals must be adapted, not simply banned. Third, highlighting authoritative local voices. Pastors, traditional healers, and survivors are already transmitting accurate information, and they should be allocated funding, not just thanked.
Fourth, funding engagement work as seriously as beds and protective gear. Donors readily pay for isolation wards but are much less willing to pay for slow listening work that encourages people to enter the ward.
Ebola is a virus, but this epidemic is also a debate about whom to trust. Until the response system wins this debate, the virus will continue to win in everything else.
