Ebola Outbreak in Équateur, DRC
This page collates briefings from the outbreak of Ebola in Équateur, Democratic Republic of Congo in 2018. They contain contextual information of relevance to the new outbreak in the same region.
Since 2018 the Social Science in Humanitarian Action Platform has supported UNICEF, WHO, IFRC and other partners through the production of evidence briefs highlighting key socio-cultural considerations relevant to control of the disease, including a focus on the outbreak in North Kivu.
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![Photo credit: UNICEF/Naftalin UNICEF/Naftalin](https://www.socialscienceinaction.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/UN0209048_Naftalin-1024x683.jpg)
Photo credit: UNICEF/Naftalin
Health workers get ready to attend to suspected Ebola patients in Bikoro Hospital, the epicenter of the Ebola outbreak in 2018.
![July 24, 2020 - Phnom Penh (Cambodia). Nha Nha watches a training exercise video made by ISF together with her smaller sister Sopheap. The school has been using streaming apps to provide essential teacher-student interaction and creating a series of physical training exercises. Using Google classroom, Telegram and Facebook Groups, as well as Messenger, allow students to continue studying from the safety of home. To ensure students have suitable equipment to learn online, ISF loans tablet computers to those in need. Subsidies are also available for students who struggle to afford internet service. © Thomas Cristofoletti / UNICEF UNICEF/UNI358629](https://www.socialscienceinaction.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/UNI358629-400x200.jpg)
Briefings
6 Ways to Incorporate Social Context and Trust in Infodemic Management
This brief explains how social science can inform infodemiology by making it more attuned to different social, political and cultural contexts and to the relationships between people and formal institutions.
![UNICEF staffer, Jean Claude Nzengu, talks with members of an Ebola vaccination team as they prepare to administer the vaccine in an Ebola-affected community in Mbandaka, DRC. UNICEF and partners are tracing Ebola contact cases and high-risk populations to educate them on the importance of getting vaccinated in order to better protect themselves from getting Ebola. - UNI275958](https://www.socialscienceinaction.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/UNI275958-400x200.jpg)
Case Studies
Evidence for contact tracing (CT) analyses from the DRC Ebola outbreaks
This presentation provides discussion and evidence on contract tracing, looking at the experience of Integrated, Multidisciplinary Outbreak Analytics (IMOA) in the DRC Ebola outbreaks.
![On 11 August 2018, UNICEF and partners discuss Ebola preventions measures in front of a crowd in Ebola-affected Beni in North Kivu in The Democratic Republic of the Congo. As at 8 August 2018, UNICEF briefed 60 community leaders in Mabalako health zone and 581 community members in Beni health zone on Ebola prevention messages as well as distributed 200 posters and 300 Ebola prevention pamphlets. Mass communication on Ebola prevention messages is being integrated into activities of local churches and local radio stations with 241 churches having received Ebola prevention messages and 79 local journalists being briefed.
Following the 1 August 2018 announcement by the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) of a new Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak in North Kivu, UNICEF has mobilized its teams to help contain the spread of the disease and protect children. The impact of an outbreak on children can be far reaching. It’s known from earlier outbreaks in the DRC as well as in West Africa that children can be affected in various ways. Children can themselves be infected by the disease, but the impact goes beyond; it impacts their families and communities as children can lose their parents, care-givers and teachers. Access to basic services such as health care and education can become severely compromised. Also, children who are infected or whose relatives are, face stigmatization and social exclusion.
The Congolese Government has activated its response plan and called its partners, including UNICEF, to participate in the response. UNICEF has deployed a team to Beni for the response, including health specialists, communication specialists and a water, sanitation and hygiene specialist from the Ebola-response team in the Province of Equateur. Health, water, sanitation and hygiene and communication supplies have been sent to the affected areas including 300 laser thermometers to monitor the health conditions of people in the affected region and 2,00 UNICEF/UN0228986/Naftalin](https://www.socialscienceinaction.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/UN0228986-400x200.jpg)
Field Notes
Perceptions et Comportements Liés À Ebola
Résultats des études dans la province de l’Equateur auprès des communautés et du personnel de santé sur les perceptions et les comportements liés à Ebola.
![Hornelie Mpiko, 17, a UNICEF-supported radio reporter/educator, stands outside her radio station in Mbandaka in June 2018. A smiling woman with earphones around her neck](https://www.socialscienceinaction.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/community-radio-400x200.jpg)
Briefings
The Context of Équateur Province, DRC
Key considerations about the context of Équateur Province, including climate, infrastructure and politics.
![Hand-washing and temperature screening at primary School “Vie Nouvelle” in Wangata neighbourhood UNICEF | UN0216105 | Shadid](https://www.socialscienceinaction.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/UN0216105_Shadid-400x200.jpg)
Briefings
Engaging Twa Communities in Équateur Province
Key socio-anthropological considerations regarding ‘indigenous communities’.
![A UNICEF-supported social mobilizer, addresses a group of children in central Mbandaka, the capital of Equateur Province. UNICEF | UN0215063 | Naftalin](https://www.socialscienceinaction.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/UN0215063_Naftalin-400x200.jpg)
Briefings
Health-Seeking Behaviours in Équateur Province, DRC
Key socio-cultural considerations concerning health beliefs and health-seeking behaviour.
![Burial, Funeral and Mourning Practices in Équateur Province, DRC © UNICEF/UN0215064/Naftalin](https://www.socialscienceinaction.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/communicating-ebola-risks-400x200.jpg)
Evidence Reviews
Burial, Funeral and Mourning Practices in Équateur Province, DRC
Key socio-cultural considerations concerning events related to death, burial, funerals (rites or ceremonies), and mourning.
![On 12 May 2018 in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a health worker at Bikoro Hospital, the epicenter of the latest Ebola outbreak in the DRC. Bikoro Hospital has sealed off a ward to diagnose suspected Ebola patients and provide treatment. The DRC has experienced nine known Ebola outbreaks.
Following the announcement by the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on 8 May 2018 of a new Ebola outbreak in Equateur Province, UNICEF has mobilised its teams to help contain the spread of the disease. The outbreak was declared in the Bikoro Health Zone, located more than 100 kilometers south of the provincial capital of Mbandaka. A UNICEF team with two doctors, a specialist in water, sanitation and hygiene as well as a specialist in community communication left today from Mbandaka to assess the extent of the epidemic and begin implementing the response, alongside the Government and the World Health Organization (WHO). This is the ninth Ebola outbreak in the country since 1976. UNICEF supports the Government in its coordination of the response both from the country’s capital Kinshasa as well as in the affected area. UNICEF has been active in the Equateur Province for many years. Based on its experience in previous Ebola epidemics, UNICEF is focusing its response on communication activities in the communities to protect people from the disease and on water supply, hygiene and sanitation to prevent the spread of the disease. UNICEF has already sent a total of 45 kg of chlorine, five sprays, 50kg of soap and 28,000 water purification tablets to the area, as well as 600 posters and 6,000 leaflets to educate affected communities. © UNICEF/UN0209049/Naftalin](https://www.socialscienceinaction.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/health-worker-bikoro-400x200.jpg)
Evidence Reviews
Socio-Cultural Considerations for Vaccine Introduction and Community Engagement
Key considerations and immediate recommendations, particularly for community engagement, in May 2018 for the Ebola outbreak in DRC.
Briefings
Note de Partage rapide de la Cellule d’Analyse Intégrées d’Ebola: Equateur 2020 (Juin a Novembre 2020)
Ce briefing passe en revue les preuves de la réponse à la dernière épidémie d'Ebola en Equateur.