Survivors, including health and aid workers, recall their experiences and lessons during the 2018...

[Abc News] Survivors share experiences and lessons from Congo’s 2018 Ebola outbreak Survivors share experiences and lessons from Congo’s 2018 Ebola outbreak Survivors including health and aid workers recall their experiences and lessons during the 2018-2020 Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo BENI, Congo -- The memories come flooding back whenever Vianney Kambale Kombi hears the word Ebola.

He remembers the pain and fear in his community in the eastern Congo city of Beni during the 2018-2020 Ebola outbreak, history's second-biggest with more than 3,400 reported cases and over 2,200 deaths. It was stopped with the aid of vaccines. Kombi also remembers the broad skepticism over the disease, attacks on health workers and inaction from patients that he blames for the speed in which the disease spread.

“We thought it was witchcraft,” said Kombi. ” In Beni, a bustling commercial hub near the borders with Uganda and Rwanda, some fear that a repeat of mistakes made during Congo's past outbreaks and the lack of an approved vaccine this time around might make the response to the latest outbreak more challenging.

A total of 515 infections have been confirmed in the current outbreak caused by the rare Bundibugyo virus, a type of Ebola virus, including 91 deaths and 12 recoveries. Kombi recalled how he contracted the virus after being exposed to others who had it.

” “The community had not accepted that we could recover from this disease, that’s why reintegrating into the community at first was a bit difficult,” he said. “When a pandemic hits here in Congo, we initially think it’s a political issue,” said Bienfait Wanzire, who also recovered after contracting Ebola during the 2018 outbreak.

“At first, we thought it was a spiritual illness,” he said. ” Dr. Babah Mutuza Lusungu, a physician at “Dieu Est Grand” Medical Center in Beni, remembered losing his uncle and two colleagues even as he tried to convince people the outbreak was real.

“There was very strong resistance,” said Lusungu. ” Youths at the time were not directly involved in response efforts, he said, urging local authorities to work more closely with youth leaders to enlighten people about the disease. “If we wait until they have so many declared cases to start making an effective response, we will have totally missed the target,” he said.