Terror is gripping Ebola-hit areas in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, with one local saying the disease has tortured them. The death toll continues to rise as officials fear the outbreak may have been spreading undetected for some time.
Death Toll and Suspected Cases
As of Tuesday, there were 514 suspected cases, with 136 people believed to have died from the virus, officials said. One person has also died in neighbouring Uganda. Cases have also been identified in Butembo city and rebel-controlled Goma in North Kivu province, as well as in South Kivu province.
Community Fears and Unreported Deaths
Health officials say several deaths occurred in the community without being reported to the authorities, meaning they could not be investigated at the time. According to the health ministry, formal community alerts were only registered from May 8. The presumed patient zero is a nurse who died in the provincial capital Bunia and was buried in Mongwalu. Most of the suspected cases and deaths have been reported there and in neighbouring Rwampara.
On a recent visit to the area, a taxi driver told the BBC: "I am scared because people are dying very fast... We are really afraid." Rwampara resident Fred Kiza added: "There is fear, which is normal when there's a disease like this. It would be good if they gave us masks to protect ourselves."
Health Minister's Concerns
Congolese Health Minister Dr Samuel Roger Kamba visited the Ituri province, the epicentre of the outbreak, over the weekend. He said: "At community level, this hasn't been effective. It means someone may have died before him, or someone else may have been sick before him, but no one reported it. We really need to look within the community to understand what happened - how people became ill and sometimes even died without any report being filed."
The Bundibugyo Strain
The outbreak has been caused by the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola. DR Congo is currently facing its 17th outbreak of Ebola and is more familiar with the Zaïre species. Bundibugyo has caused only two outbreaks before - in 2007 and 2012 - where it killed around 30% of people infected. Symptoms can include heavy bleeding and a very high fever, but Bundibugyo can show fewer obvious signs, which delays diagnosis because people assume it is Malaria. Medics fear the delay may have allowed the virus to spread silently. In Mongwalu, some deaths were attributed not to illness, but to witchcraft, known locally as the "coffin phenomenon" - the idea that anyone who touched the coffin of a deceased person would also die.
Slow Response and Daily Survival
Despite Dr Kamba's visit, residents feel progress to curb the spread has been slow. One said: "If there's no treatment centre here in the capital then what about other areas?" Bunia in Ituri, and Butembo and Goma in North Kivu, are home to hundreds of thousands of people, yet none has a fully operational Ebola treatment centre five days into the declaration of the outbreak. Residents in Goma told the BBC health measures, such as avoiding handshakes, limiting gatherings and regular handwashing, are widely ignored. "I'm heading to the border to report on people stranded there," said local journalist José Mutanava. "I'm wearing a face mask, but not many people are." Another resident said: "Nobody can follow the barrier measures - maybe only when we see more deaths. Today in the city centre I saw only four people wearing masks."
Others say daily survival takes priority. "It's too much to ask people struggling to eat to follow these rules," one resident said. Eastern DR Congo is badly hit by conflict, bringing additional difficulties in dealing with the virus. Save the Children said the Ebola outbreak is a "new massive crisis on top of an already difficult situation. It is in an area of conflict, an area of humanitarian crisis, with hundreds of thousands of people displaced, and healthcare systems are already severely compromised."
