Locals in DR Congo first thought Ebola cases were caused by witchcraft

Weeks before an outbreak of Ebola was declared in the Democratic Republic of Congo, affected communities reportedly thought people were dying due to “witchcraft”.

The World Health Organization declared the Ebola outbreak, the 17th in the large country of more than 100 million people, an international health emergency on Sunday.

Witnesses said, however, that the first suspected cases of the highly contagious haemorrhagic fever appeared in mid-April in the mining locality of Mongbwalu, in gold-rich Ituri province.

"Unfortunately, the alert spread slowly within the community, as people believed they were suffering from a ‘mystical illness’",  said Congolese Health Minister Samuel Roger Kamba on Tuesday.

A hospital official in Rwampara – a town in the eastern Ituri province which is the epicentre of the epidemic – says they believed traditional leaders had cast a curse.

After a body was repatriated to Mongbwalu from Bunia, the Ituri provincial capital, "members of the family decided to change coffins", a resident of the town, John Vatsosi, told the AFP news agency.

The first one "was burned by young people", he said, but some local traditional chiefs wanted "to hold ceremonies before incinerating the coffin".

"After that, there were repeated deaths, sometimes between three and five people a day," he said.

"People then began to speculate, saying that the traditional leaders had cast a curse that was causing these deaths."

Some patients "decided to seek treatment from traditional healers, while others turned to servants of God for prayers," Vatsosi said.

Congolese doctor, Abdou Sebushishe, a Global Health Advisor to International Medical Corps said rumours are exactly what must be avoided in this kind of situation.

“Taking rumours at face value and spreading them is bad, because that seriously undermines the effectiveness of the response,” he said.

This false information, coupled with the fact that medical staff were unable to identify the less common strain of the highly contagious haemorrhagic fever, led to its rapid spread.

Patients who made it to the hospital died within 24 hours.

But in isolated areas, infected people "die at home and their bodies are handled by their family members", said Isaac Nyakulinda, a civil society official in Rwampara health area.

"We, the population, did not really know if it was an epidemic," he said. "We regret that the government intervened late," he added.

Sebushishe said that, despite what some may believe, the reality is that the epidemic exists.

"Some people will say it’s magic, others will refuse to believe it or say we’re making up the figures, while others say we’re downplaying it for various reasons,” he said.

The country’s health infrastructure faces many technical and financial limitations when it comes to detecting outbreaks such as Ebola.

Some healthcare workers were even infected because they lacked protective equipment, with five affected so far, of which four have died.

“Healthcare workers are at high risk,” said Sebushishe.

“As part of our humanitarian work, we are currently focusing on training these workers to identify the disease early, isolate patients, treat them, and protect themselves.”

By time the rumour about the fetishist nature of the illness began to disappear, locals say there were already 246 suspected cases, including 65 recorded deaths.

The origin of this outbreak is yet to be clearly established.