In addition to health-related challenges, medical teams must also contend with resistance from sections of the population who continue to question the very existence of the outbreak.

This attitude complicates awareness-raising efforts and often delays the treatment of people showing suspicious symptoms, thereby increasing the risk of the disease spreading within communities.

Misinformation has serious consequences, explains Dr Yannick Jobalo, who also practices in Bunia: delays in treatment and refusals of care hinder the eradication of the virus. “When there are confirmed cases somewhere, the surveillance team has to go there to identify contacts so they can be monitored and, if they show signs of the disease, automatically treated. However, if, unfortunately, they encounter skeptical people, the teams are sometimes turned away and tracking the virus becomes complicated,” he explains, before calling on the entire population to follow all the advice provided by health facilities in order to break the chain of transmission of the virus.

Another form of misinformation involves the promotion of traditional remedies or generic medicines falsely claimed to be a cure for Ebola.

In Bunia, for example, videos are circulating on social media promoting so-called local remedies purported to prevent or cure Ebola, including mixtures of ash, salt and lemon. This is dangerous misinformation that encourages self-medication and risks driving patients or suspected cases away from response teams, at a time when the epidemic continues to claim lives.

The problem is that local organizations lack the resources to carry out awareness-raising activities on the ground.

“Beyond the threats of physical violence against our staff, there are also significant financial constraints. Resources for responding to the crisis are, for the most part, being channeled into managing and controlling the epidemic, but the local organizations carrying out awareness-raising campaigns lack the necessary resources,” says a representative of a local organization based in Bunia.

Written by Akilimali Chomachoma, in Bunia

Caption: Two SOFEPADI outreach workers raising awareness about Ebola in the village of Katsu, Djugu territory, on June 8, 2026.