By Olivia Le Poidevin
GENEVA, May 22 (Reuters) – Volunteers are going door-to-door to combat misinformation about Ebola in the area at the centre of the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said on Friday.
The Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, for which there is no approved vaccine or treatment, was declared an emergency of international concern by the World Health Organization on Sunday.
The IFRC said it is working with communities in Mongbwalu, at the heart of the outbreak, to explain how people can protect themselves and when to seek care.
“Community reactions remain mixed, for some people the outbreak is very real and they are taking information on how to protect themselves,” Gabriela Arenas, the Regional Operations Coordinator for the IFRC Africa Region, told reporters via video link from Nairobi.
“For others, there’s still suspicion and misinformation claiming that Ebola is fabricated.”
Tensions have surfaced locally. Protesters set fire to tents for Ebola patients after Congolese authorities refused to give them the dead body of a beloved local footballer suspected to have died in the outbreak. They wanted to bury him themselves and his family disputed that Ebola had killed him.
The episode demonstrated why building trust in communities is so important, Arenas said.
Bodies of Ebola victims are highly infectious after death, and unsafe burials – where family members handle the body without proper protective equipment – are a leading driver of transmission.
“Ebola outbreaks start and end between communities, and this is why the local engagement remains so central to the response,” Arenas said, adding that rumors stem from fear and a lack of trusted information.
(Reporting by Olivia Le Poidevin; editing by Matthias Williams, William Maclean)
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