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A hearse carrying an Ebola victim has become the latest example of sometimes violent resistance from the community, which complicates efforts to contain an epidemic in Congo – and causes a disturbing new rise in cases.
The appearance of the deadly virus for the first time in the far north-east sparked fear. Suspected contacts of infected people tried to escape. Residents attacked health teams. The rate of new Ebola cases has more than doubled since the beginning of this month, experts say.
Safe burials are particularly sensitive because some outraged family members reject the intervention of health workers at a deeply personal moment, even if they put their lives in danger.
On Wednesday, a cautious peace was negotiated on the body of an Ebola victim, one of 95 deaths occurring so far out of 172 confirmed cases, the Congolese Ministry of Health said. Her family asked an acquaintance to drive the hearse, while agreeing to wear protective gear to carry the casket. A police vehicle would follow.
On the way to the cemetery, however, the hearse took off "at full speed," the ministry said. A violent confrontation ensued with the youth of the country once the hearse was found elsewhere at the family's burial site. The procession finally reached the cemetery. at the end of the day.
The next day, with a better understanding of the issue, several family members appeared voluntarily in a hospital to get vaccinated against Ebola, the ministry said.
"They swore that nobody had manipulated the body," he added. The Ebola virus spreads via the body fluids of infected people, including the dead.
The community of Beni where the confrontation took place is at the center of efforts to contain the Ebola virus. To the great concern of the World Health Organization and other organizations, it is also where community resistance has been most persistent – and where many of the new cases are found.
Chronic mistrust after years of rebel attacks is part of the "toxic mix" in Beni, said Peter Salama, WHO's Emergency Manager, in an article posted on Twitter.
Until now, work on the Ebola virus in Beni has been suspended twice since the outbreak statement on 1 August. A "dead city" of mourning in response to an attack by the rebels provoked the first. Wednesday's violence provoked the second. crucial efforts to track thousands of possible contacts with Ebola can slip, which may cause new infections.
In defending itself, the people of Beni have underlined the shock of the appearance of one of the most notorious diseases in the world, accompanied by strangers in combination of protection against biological risks who tell them how to say goodbye to their loved ones. killed by the virus.
"Until now, we did not know enough about the Ebola virus and we felt marginalized when Red Cross agents arrived and buried the corpse and buried it without that family members do not play a role, "said Patrick Kyana, a resident of Beni, who lost his father. the virus, told the Associated Press. "It's very difficult.Image that your son is dying and that someone refuses to let you attend his funeral.In Africa, we respect death a lot."
Until recently, many people in Beni did not believe in the existence of Ebola, thinking it was a government conspiracy to delay further the presidential elections, said to AP Kizito Hangi, president of Beni's civil society.
Now the people have begun to understand and cooperate, said Hangi. "The problem was that health workers were all coming from outside, but local specialists were included to persuade and inform people in local languages."
Jamie LeSueur, Ebola Emergency Operations Manager with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, acknowledged the problem. In early October, two Red Cross volunteers were seriously injured during an attack during inhumane burials in the Butemo community. Another volunteer was injured in September by people throwing stones.
"This has raised many questions for us all, where does the violence come from?", He said. They redoubled their efforts to work with communities and clarify messages while respecting cultural norms as much as possible.
"Of course, there are limits," LeSueur said, "Some people like to see the corpse buried, but with Ebola, it's hard to open the body bag." In the emotionally charged environment where families have lost their love. a misstep could quickly raise tensions.
While the Congolese government is employing to better protect its own safe burial teams in Beni, LeSueur said that the "militarization" of similar efforts in the epidemic has begun. Ebola, more deadly in West Africa a few years ago, had caused some residents to hide or not to announce the dead of the virus.
"I do not think that will be the case in this event," he said, but everyone remembers this lesson.
With its position of neutrality, the Red Cross does not use any armed guards, LeSueur added. "Community acceptance – it's our security."
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