On the front line against Ebola in DR Congo | Global News Podcast

Welcome to the Global News podcast from. the BBC. I'm Janet Jalil and I'm joined. by our correspondent Anne Soy, who's. been on the front line in the fight. against Ebola in the Democratic Republic. of Congo. And Anne, [clears throat] tell. us what you've seen. >> I have been to the epicenter of this. outbreak of Ebola, which so far is the. third largest in history on record. And that is there that is Bunia in the. northeast province of Ituri. And then. there are two other towns, Rwampara,

which is about 15-20 minutes drive from. Bunia, and Mungbwalu, which is quite. remote, uh surrounded by a forest. It's. a mining town without tarmac, no paved. roads. Um and it is believed that this is where. the outbreak started, but the teams the. response teams uh scientists are are. still trying to trace the first patient, patient zero, to try and figure out. where this started. Uh so I have been to. those three hot spots. And what I saw is.

a community in shock, just coming to. terms with this outbreak that was. simmering for weeks, if not months, before they discovered it. And when they. discovered it, families had lost their. loved ones. I spoke to a man at the. cemetery in Bunia who said that he. buried his mother the day before. He had. come back to bury or rather he he buried. his father the day before. He had come.

back to bury his mother. He had already. lost three sisters. And two more sisters. were in hospital with Ebola. And he was. just devastated. And throughout that. interview, he kept saying, "Ebola is. real. People need to know that Ebola is. real." He was really shaken. And that is. because at the beginning of this. outbreak, there was a lot of resistance. from parts of the community. Some were. not believing the message of Ebola. There were myths, myths about how it.

came about. Some thought it was. poisoning, others thought it was. witchcraft, and that is what helped it. to spread. >> So, there are all kinds of questions we. need to unpack here. First of all, why. are people so suspicious? What's What's. the background to this? >> We were told of a story about this young. man who died in the capital, Guinea, and. his family transported his body in a. coffin. to Mambalo, that remote mining town.

without paved roads. And the road is. very bumpy. And I saw the lorries that. people use in convoys to travel there. Convoys because of insecurity. And because of the bumpy road and it's. people and luggage in in lorries, the coffin broke. And when the coffin. broke, they just took his body and. buried it. And then they burned that. coffin. It is thought that this was one of the. first mass infection events. Because.

after that funeral, many of the people. who attended the funeral caught Ebola. and died. And people then came up with. this rumor that it is the coffin curse. The ancestors were not happy because. they burned the coffin, and that they. had come back to punish them for burning. that coffin. And so they were using. stories like these to explain it away. while Ebola was spreading. Ebola is most. infectious when a person who has. contracted it has died. And funerals in.

this part of the world involve a lot of. contact, washing of the body as a show. of love to the departed. They are. escorting them on a journey to the next. life. And so people come and touch the. body as they are mourning to wash that. body communally. And that is exactly how. Ebola spreads. >> And Anne, historically, there has. suspicion of aid organizations, medical. profession- professionals that come in. from outside Africa. But you, while you.

were in the epicenter of this outbreak, met a patient who got Ebola, but then. fully recovered. And he had a message. that he wanted to send out to other. people who might be caught up by this. >> He did. But it was Daniel Calambata. And. he was so happy to recover from Ebola. And when he came out, I asked him how he. was feeling. And he said that. he was very happy and relieved that he. had recovered. The hospital director. told me that he was also happy. One,

because it was such a morale boost for. his staff. They had lost five medics in. that hospital. And then two, because. once he goes back to his community, people can see that when they come to. the Ebola treatment centers, they can. recover. They can get cured and go back. to their community. One of the rumors. that had been circulating previously, because partly based on fact, when. people came to the Ebola treatment. units, many of them died. And this was.

only the second person that community to. recover. So, it was changing that. narrative. And that is why it is so. important that the health care workers. came out escorting him with song and. dance because of that. >> Well, that is really a great story to. hear amid all this pain and suffering. And and the medical professionals. treating these patients are also taking. other measures to try to inspire. confidence. For instance, having glass. windows in isolation units, so relatives. can see what's happening.

>> That's right. This glass window that. you're talking about is in one of the. Ebola treatment units. They have, over time, tried to modify. how they care for patients with Ebola to. keep health care workers safe, because. usually they're the the the group that. is most at risk because they're in. contact with the patients. They're. touching the patients' fluids, and those. those are the agents of infection. So, they have created these wards.

that are, you know, typical wards, but. then on the outside, they have large. windows, you know, like the glass window. that you have in banks, you know, where. tellers sit behind a desk and you talk. to them through some glass. So, something like that. So, families can to. them. So, they're humanizing. the patients. Previously, it was not. possible to do that because the patients. needed to be under. isolation. They are infectious, and they. did not think it was safe for families.

to come and see them. And that made it. very difficult for families to process. all this. Once their patients went to. hospital, they never got to see them. And if they did not make it, they even. did not get to see the bodies to confirm. that their relatives have died. And and. that made it very difficult in during. previous outbreaks. >> And and as you say, it it took weeks, possibly even months before this latest. Ebola outbreak was detected. Why did it. take so long? Is it partly down to the.

Trump administration's severe cuts of. international aid? >> American funding has played a big role. for decades across the African continent. supporting. health care, supporting a response to. outbreaks of disease, supporting. epidemics. You know, for example, HIV. and AIDS for a long time, USAID was. supporting that in a very big way. I. reported that earlier in my career. I.

was reporting on HIV for 7 years, and I. saw the difference antiretroviral. treatment brought, even to alleviate. stigma. Because in my country, Kenya, it. was called slim because people just. became more and more emaciated and then. they died because there was no. medication. But when the treatment was. discovered and funded by American uh. money, it gave people a dose of life. And. people living with HIV became. productive. They could take care of.

their families. So, it had made a huge. difference in the community. And when it. was suddenly cut, you can imagine the impact that it has. had on communities uh across the. continent. And so, in a big way, um. the thinking now is that if it had. continued, the systems would have been. in a better position to detect this. early. The surveillance would have been. able to pick it up earlier, and they. would have managed to control it. This.

is a country, the Democratic Republic of. Congo, that has dealt with This is the. 17th outbreak of Ebola. They have the. experience. They have the know-how. They. know how to deal with it. But also, it is a country where people. are very poor, uh and that makes it very challenging. >> Uh and there is armed conflict. It's. also a vast country. And we've now got. this warning from the Red Cross that. this Ebola outbreak may not have even.

peaked yet, and it could last for a. year. >> That's right. Experts believe that they. are behind the curve. Uh so, what they. mean is that the worst is yet to come. But also, in a typical outbreak, uh. usually when the testing picks up, then. more and more people are discovered to. have the disease. So, the numbers will go up, but it isn't. necessarily a bad thing because it means. that many more infections are being.

detected and can be uh taken care of. People can be referred for treatment. rather than um spreading continuing to. spread it in the community. So, that is. what the healthcare workers are saying. that for the next few weeks the numbers. will continue to rise before they get to. a point where they feel that the. response is catching up and is bringing. this under control. >> Uh Anel, there have been a few cases. outside Congo. A question that a lot of.

people are asking is could Ebola cause. the next pandemic? >> The outbreak has been detected in the. capital of neighboring Uganda. Uh many. of those cases having come from the. epicenter here in the Democratic. Republic of Congo in the northeast. province of Ituri which borders Uganda. And that's because when people were. falling ill and they were not getting. the care that they needed um in their. country, then they went to the next best. place which was Kampala. But that seems. to be under control, the outbreak in.

Ebola which really speaks to. the. ability of countries to bring this under. control when it they catch it very early. on. The World Health Organization they says. that the neighboring countries, that is. Uganda, the the countries that surround. the Democratic Republic of Congo. including South Sudan because it borders. Ituri province, the epicenter, are at high risk of getting cases. But then the countries beyond the.

region, the risk of the of infection is low. >> Anel, thank you. That was Anel Soy. And. if you'd like to hear more from the. Global News podcast, please click on the. link below.