The current Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak in Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) will soon enter its second year. Beginning on 28 July 2018, the latest WHO estimates put the confirmed death toll at just under 1,500, with over 2,000 confirmed cases as of 24 June.
The largest known EVD outbreak occurred in Western Africa between 2013 and 2016 and claimed over 11,000 lives, with almost 29,000 confirmed infections. Thought far smaller than the West Africa epidemic, the ongoing DRC outbreak is now the second largest in history, having surpassed the 2000-2001 Uganda outbreak of 425 confirmed cases.
In comparison, most previous EVD outbreaks have reported between 12 and 425 confirmed cases. The sheer number of infections in the two recent EVD outbreaks, compared to the relatively low number of cases in the 27 previous outbreaks since EVD was first described in 1976 are an increasing cause for concern, and require an adaptable and robust humanitarian response.
The ability to contain the current outbreak of EVD in the Kivu region of the DRC has been hampered by issues both new, and well established. Medical responses to EVD outbreaks have always been met with cultural barriers; however the present political instability and ongoing conflict in the Eastern DRC has impaired community trust and engagement with the containment response.
Surveys conducted in Northern Kivu report that over 25% of people questioned did not believe that EVD was real and only 32% of respondents had trust that the local authorities represent their interests, with just one in 50 people having trust in the national DRC authorities on any level.
However, approximately two-thirds of those surveyed had trust in health professionals treating those infected. Misinformation surrounding EVD is also high, over 90% of respondents had either heard that EVD did not exist, was fabricated for financial gains or to destabilise the region, although less than half believed that this false information was true. Though the current instability in the region has hindered disease containment, these are not new issues and similar trends were observed in studies conducted during the 2013 – 2016 EVD outbreak in Western Africa.
As the outbreak progresses and new data emerge, the Research-Aid Networks blog will continue to explore the difficulties, opportunities and lessons that this tragic outbreak presents.
