Congo Village Chief Battles Ebola Stigma as Outbreak Passes 10,000 Cases

Alphonse bin Kitobi Achou Taibo, the chief of Bapakombe-Bakondo in eastern Congo, lost four family members to Ebola this year. He spent weeks convincing his relatives to accept hospital care, a process hindered by local beliefs that the disease is a form of poison or evil spirit.

The village sits on the edge of Beni in North Kivu province, a region currently grappling with the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak in the country's history. Achou Taibo described a situation where fear overrode medical advice, leading his kin to refuse transport to the nearest facility.

"I quickly realized: We are now in danger of losing the whole family," Achou Taibo told The Associated Press. Eleven other members of his extended family contracted the virus but survived after he successfully moved them to the hospital.

Congo’s Ministry of Health reported that the outbreak surpassed 10,000 confirmed cases this week, with over 4,800 deaths. The strain is the rare Bundibugyo virus, for which no approved vaccine or treatment exists. Health teams face additional hurdles from armed conflict and poor road infrastructure in the region.

Prejudice has complicated the response. When a cousin died in August, a local traditional medicine clinic attributed the death to poisoning. Another cousin, 27-year-old Zawadi Kavira Musubao, fell ill during the funeral. The same clinic labeled her case as poisoning, and a healer prepared a potion that worsened her condition before she eventually recovered.

Violence has emerged from the confusion. Achou Taibo reported that young people set fire to homes in his neighborhood, accusing residents of witchcraft. Government data from early October showed that more than 70% of new cases fell outside known contact lists. At least 60% of deaths occurred outside of treatment centers.

The outbreak has spread to four other countries, with active transmission in two of them. Mistrust in government health authorities, fueled by previous allegations of corruption and unpaid wages for frontline workers, has intensified the crisis. Last Saturday, a nurse was killed and another worker injured while responding to an alert in Bafwasende, according to the World Health Organization.

Stigma follows survivors back into their communities. Musubao said her landlord forced her family out after health workers disinfected their home, claiming the process brought in evil spirits. The family moved in with another sister. Musubao is currently unemployed and aims to start a small business selling tomatoes and fish.