Ebola 'still feared' in DRC
2004-12-17 09:45
Mbomo - Just a year ago, terrified inhabitants of this African village
desperately locked up their schools and churches and stayed inside
their homes, not daring even to shake hands with each other for
fear of contracting Ebola.
Victims of this fever bleed to death after their internal organs
liquefy, and an epidemic last December claimed 35 lives in this
region of the Congo Republic, the smaller western neighbour of the DRC.
One year on, the word Ebola remains taboo. The very mention of
it causes people to freeze into long and painful silence. "If you
speak about it, it might come back," said a villager.
The disease is highly infectious and easily transmitted through
contact with the blood and other body fluids of victims, even when
they are dead.
Locals seemed to have learned the lessons taught by authorities
in the capital Brazzaville, or by the Red Cross and relief aid
workers.
"We don't eat monkey meat and we don't collect dead meat any
more," villagers chorused.
One of the dangers has been eating dead animals found in the
forest such as gorillas, considered the likely origin of the virus
jumping to humans.
But as the conversation continues, ancient superstitions
resurface. "Is Ebola a virus or sorcery?" asked Anne-Marie, a
mother of five.
"A lot of investigators came here... but they said in the end it
wasn't Ebola," said her friend Alphonse.
Old beliefs die hard
Despite awareness campaigns, old beliefs die hard in the face of
this killer virus first detected in neighbouring Zaire (now DRC) in
1976.
"People say it's sorcery because those who have touched corpses
are still alive," said 25 year-old hairdresser Celine: "If it had
been a virus they would have died."
The hue and cry is up for alleged sorcerers. Last year four
teachers were charged with "mystical practices" and lynched by a
mob in Akele, a village near this community close to the border
with Congo's northern neighbour Gabon.
Others yet again, such as Armand, claim that politicians have
been practising human sacrifice "to enjoy more power."
In this district of more than 6 500 inhabitants, entire villages
have been deserted. Here and there graves provide a tragic reminder
of three waves of epidemic between the end of 2001 and the
beginning of 2004, causing 300 deaths in the region.
"It was tough during the epidemic because people didn't want to
listen to advice, they didn't want to be told they had Ebola, so
they fled into the forest," recalled Catherine Atsangandoko, head
of the local medical centre.
All the homes of the sick have been disinfected, although some
had to be burned down to reduce the contamination risk.
Sufferers from Ebola symptoms sometimes refused to be treated in
hospital, fearing that the very medicines were themselves carriers
of this virus with its 80 percent death rate.
Gilbert Ndomba is one of the few survivors of the last epidemic
"I lost my children and my wife and I thought I was going to die
too," he said: "God saved me."