Science, Art, Litt, Science based Art & Science Communication

Emotions don't control or cure diseases, cool heads will!

The news we are getting from DRC is highly disturbing.

There is an Ebola outbreak. Scientists and health care workers are trying their best to control and treat it.

The World Health Organization has declared the outbreak of the rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, the third-largest such outbreak on record, a public health emergency ⁠of international concern.

But people in a highly emotional state are setting fire to hospitals and destroying them because the health care workers are refusing to release the dead bodies for the fear of contamination.

The dead bodies of Ebola patients are highly infectious and can easily spread the disease. The virus remains viable and transmissible for up to a week after death, meaning that any contact with the corpse's bodily fluids poses a severe risk of infection.

Here are the key details on how transmission occurs from deceased individuals:

Contagious Fluids: The Ebola virus is transmitted through direct contact with bodily fluids (blood, saliva, sweat, vomit, faeces). These fluids remain highly concentrated and infectious even after the patient has died.

High-Risk Burial Practices: Traditional funeral and burial rites—which often involve washing, touching, or kissing the body—are a primary driver of Ebola outbreaks. Health organizations estimate that a significant percentage of new infections occur during these ceremonies.

Persistence: The virus can survive on the surfaces of a body for several days. Simply touching the deceased person, or touching contaminated clothing and burial items, can transmit the virus to a living person.

Religious angle: Hospitals came under four waves of attacks by young people mobilized by relatives of a Christian religious leader who died of Ebola. The perpetrators of the attacks wanted Ebola victims’ bodies released for burial according to their religious practices. They simply refuse the fact that the bodies of Ebola victims are highly infectious after death, and unsafe burials — in which family members handle ⁠the body without proper protective equipment — are a leading driver of transmission.

Most factors affecting the spread are cultural practices such as ritual burials. Ritual burials are common in many African countries, like Sierra Leone and the DRC. These are ceremonies born out of the belief that death is a sacred passage to another world or ancestral realm. Mostly it starts with communal grieving and wake keeping, followed by the ceremonial preparation of the body.

In Sierra Leone, a ritual burial of a high priest who died of Ebola in the southern town of Moyamba during the 2013-2016 Ebola outbreaks led to the death of scores of people who took part in ceremonial preparation of his body. It is not surprising to learn of relatives setting Ebola hospital tents on fire simply because they were prevented from handling the corpse of their loved one.

Because of this extreme risk, global health authorities like the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) strictly mandate "safe and dignified burials". Trained professionals wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) manage these burials to ensure the virus cannot spread to grieving families or communities.

But human beings in highly emotional states don't understand this. They want to touch the bodies of their loved ones. One last time. How can anybody deny them this right, they argue like children arguing for denied ice-creams.

Why are they not allowed to follow their customs , traditions and religious practices? The souls of departed individuals cannot go to Heaven if they don't. Nobody has any right to do this to them!

And communicators like doctors and government officials who are in a highly stressed state don't usually have patience to explain things clearly.

This complex web is creating a chaotic situation.

Attacks on hospitals and health centres in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are driven by a mix of deep-rooted community mistrust of medical authorities, dangerous burial disputes during disease outbreaks, and exploitation by armed militias.

Key reasons for the violence include:

Burial Disputes: During outbreaks of highly infectious diseases like Ebola, medical protocols require strict, safe burials to prevent further transmission. Angry mobs often attack hospitals and burn treatment tents to reclaim the bodies of deceased relatives, which families want to handle and bury according to their own traditions.

Mistrust and Conspiracy Theories: Decades of conflict and neglect by authorities and international peacekeepers have created built-in skepticism. Rumours frequently spread that diseases like Ebola are a "business" or an excuse for foreigners to traffic organs, leading to hostility against healthcare workers and facilities.

Militia Violence: Eastern DRC has a long history of rampant armed conflict. Rebel groups regularly attack medical facilities to loot vital medicines, equipment, and solar panels, or to kidnap health workers to demand ransoms.

Exploitation of Outbreaks: Beyond spontaneous community protests, researchers have found that various militia groups intentionally exploit health crises and community fears to further their own political and financial agendas.

Some were perpetrated by civilians who were angry about not being able to bury their loved ones or were convinced that the outbreak was a hoax. The influx of money and manpower into an area that had felt neglected during decades of conflict and humanitarian crisis has spurred local suspicions about the real motives for the sudden spike of interest. Wild dynamics seem to be playing out now.

And the disease is spreading like wildfire now as patients who have tested positive to the virus are fleeing. So we have confirmed cases of Ebola that continue to circulate in the community and evade the response.

There is denial of the disease within the population, with some members wanting to claim the bodies of suspected and/or confirmed cases.

Experts are giving these four reasons why this outbreak will be hard to contain:

late detection and insecurity
misdiagnosis
cultural factors
shortage of global health funds.

But as specialists and communicators, let us be practical.

We cannot fail. We cannot allow mistrust to rule emotions.

We have to build communication bridges.

Yes, we must tell the general public that we can understand their concerns. We can empathize with their feelings.

But we are more concerned about other people who are alive and are in grave danger of contracting the disease. At the moment, we cannot allow others to die.

We must protect everybody who has the right to live. We will be grateful if the individuals co-operate with us in this regard.

In the absence of a vaccine or medication, the health authorities should embark on community engagement to raise awareness and sensitization. They must also enforce public health laws, especially those targeting cultures that promote unsafe burials and elevate the risk of Ebola infection. This is to prevent human transmission as many people might still be out there undetected.

A sincere request to the general public

Please listen to the experts, please collaborate with them in protecting humanity.

They are not your enemies, they are your well-wishers. They want you to live and flourish.

Think about it and create a coordinative atmosphere every time we face such situations.

Emotions don't control or cure diseases, cool heads will!

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