People fleeing conflict in Congo complicate efforts to stop Ebola outbreak

DRC-Congo border — Even at the epicenter of the deadly, growing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, aid worker Jean Marie Lipe often finds it hard to convince people the virus is real.

Grandmother Passy Nzali, among tens of thousands of people displaced from their homes by the long simmering conflict in her country, said after attending an information session with Lipe that she now understands bats and chimpanzees can carry Ebola — and to avoid touching them even when they’re dead.

But many Congolese still believe the deadly virus is something other than real — ranging from a mystical curse to a Western conspiracy — and that continues to complicate the jobs of health workers trying desperately to stop its spread. 

The total number of confirmed cases continues to surge, now over the 800 mark since this outbreak was declared on May 15, drawing a dire warning from the head of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“If we don’t stop this outbreak very soon, it will be even worse than what we had in West Africa,”said Africa CDC Director Jean Kaseya.

More than 11,000 people died and more than 23,000 were infected in West Africa’s Ebola crisis from 2014 to 2016 — the worst outbreak in recorded history since the virus was discovered 50 years ago, in 1976. 

Camps like the one where Nzali has found refuge near the Congo-Uganda border are packed with thousands of people fleeing conflict — making the sites potential hotspots for the spread of infectious diseases, including Ebola. 

The same anxieties play on the minds of health officials in Uganda, where CBS News visited a quarantine site for refugees who recently fled from the Congo.

James Peter was the most recent and only new arrival, now a week into solo quarantine. No TV, no radio, just a bed and the breeze. We spoke to him through barbed wire. He was set to be locked down in a house under quarantine measures for a total of 21 days. 

He spoke to us from a safe distance, saying he fled his hometown of Goma after anti-government forces raided the city. He said he paid 40,000 Ugandan shillings, or about $10, to make a six-hour overnight crossing of Lake Albert, across the border into Uganda. 

His desperation for a safer life is easy to understand, but the relative ease with which he crossed the international border to do so highlights the challenges facing the health professionals racing to stem a deadly outbreak.