Distrust spreads over Ebola hemorrhagic fever in Congo

Another mother is grieving at the main hospital in Momboual, considered the epicenter of Congo's recent Ebola outbreak. She feels lonely and overwhelmed. I heard that her 26-year-old daughter had died of suspected Ebola hemorrhagic fever. Women want to be close to their children. But with this virus, even that can be dangerous. People who have died from Ebola remain highly contagious. As a result, mortuary teams are trained to handle bodies in protective gear, disinfect them and prevent family members from touching them. But those rules are breaking down. People are angry and afraid. Health workers have been threatened and some have been attacked. Part of the reason for the distrust is that the disease is unfamiliar here. With no approved vaccine or treatment, many patients die despite treatment. Some people here don't even believe this disease is real. As the death toll rises, confidence in the response remains fragile. As a motorcycle taxi driver, he is concerned about the possibility of contagion from his customers and the growing mistrust in the community. This is the first emergency consignment airlifted by an international aid agency. Hygiene kits and desperately needed medical supplies are on their way to hospitals treating suspected Ebola patients. The government is unwilling to take any chances, as ethnic militias and rebels in the area make movement difficult and tensions in the town high. At the same time the supplies arrived at the hospital, the family who had come to pick up Bianfe-Marasto's body also arrived. Doctors say he died of Ebola hemorrhagic fever, but his family has doubts as no definitive tests have been taken. Marast, who was photographed by The New York Times days before his death, was working as a laboratory technician at a hospital. Her sister said her symptoms did not appear to be serious. She says she came to the hospital thinking her co-workers would help her. Her grief turned to doubt. And in Mombuwal, that suspicion is just another factor contributing to the spread of Ebola.