DRC: Ebola outbreak has already claimed more than 240 lives

The new record of the Ebola epidemic that has hit eastern DRC since 1 August is 241 deaths, according to the Ministry of Health. Nineteen people died in five days last week. These figures are worrying the response teams, who must already work in difficult conditions.

The situation is worrying and the epidemic does not seem to stop in North Kivu. Especially as insecurity hampers efforts to contain Ebola, says Tarik Yacharevitch (Jasarevic), spokesperson for the World Health Organization (WHO): " It's a very difficult context. There have been a lot of security incidents in the last few weeks, the last few months, which have slowed down our work. But we are here. WHO has more than 300 people on the ground and we are doing our best to put in place all the response measures. "

In such a context, it is difficult to properly stem the spread of the virus. The response teams are responsible for identifying all those who have been in contact with a patient, set up quarantines. Binding measures, sometimes invasive, which can provoke resistance. For example, Ebola deaths must be buried according to a special procedure, " the dignified and secure burial ".

An indispensable but complicated procedure for the relatives of the victims, according to Céline Degen, coordinator for the ICRC in Butembo: " These are people who are wearing plastic tiptoes and spraying chlorine on your loved one, on his coffin, who put it in a bag. It is extremely violent. It is actually doing violence to those people who have very particular habits and rituals and that the virus completely destabilizes. And so, sometimes people may want to hide from being sick, wanting to bury their dead without notifying epidemiologists and doctors. "

But despite some resistance from a population already battered by violence, civil society is mobilizing, with dozens of volunteers who raise awareness of good practices against Ebola.