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Briefing
Introducing experimental vaccines during health emergencies fr
This brief provides an overview of the experimental stages of vaccine development during a disease outbreak and highlights key considerations at each stage from a social science perspective.
Factsheet
Remote response to Ebola outbreak in DRC fr
The Social Science in Humanitarian Action Platform is supporting UNICEF, WHO, IFRC and other partners in the Democratic Republic of Congo to respond to the Ebola outbreak in Equateur Province. The Platform has four key streams of action: 1) Rapid…
Briefing
Cross-border dynamics between Burundi and Tanzania in the context of viral haemorrhagic fever outbreaks, 2025 fr
This brief summarises key considerations regarding cross-border dynamics between Burundi and Tanzania in the context of viral haemorrhagic fever (VHF) outbreaks in Tanzania and Uganda.
Question Bank
Tools
Viral haemorrhagic fevers question bank frptessw
This Question Bank is relevant to outbreaks where person-to-person transmission has been identified as significant to an outbreak's spread and where patient experiences must be understood for a community-centred response.
Report
How can epidemic preparedness and response be improved in the Central and East African Borderlands? fr
This workshop report offers recommendations and reflects on discussions from a workshop attended by social scientists, policymakers, and humanitarian and public health practitioners from Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan that was facilitated and hosted by…
Background report
Epidemic preparedness and response in Senegal fr
This report summarises a roundtable discussion which aimed to share strategic information from social science research, help actors in epidemic preparedness and response put in place targeted and appropriate interventions, and highlight the roles social science researchers can play in…
Infographic
Child engagement in the context of disease outbreaks in Eastern and Southern Africa
This infographic, in Arabic, French, Portuguese, Spanish and Swahili as well as English, summarises insights from a recent key considerations brief exploring why, when and how to engage children in the prevention, response and recovery stages of disease outbreak in…
Briefing
Child engagement in the context of disease outbreaks in Eastern and Southern Africa arfrptessw
This brief explores why, when and how to engage children in the prevention, response and recovery stages of disease outbreaks.
Policy document
National Ebola Recovery Strategy for Sierra Leone 2015–2017
The Sierra Leone government’s immediate post-Ebola strategy for rebuilding the health system during and after the 2014-16 Ebola epidemic
Research paper
Xenophobia’s Contours During an Ebola Epidemic: Proximity and the Targeting of Peul Migrants in Senegal
This article examines the effect of geographical proximity on targeting patterns during Ebola-era xenophobic outbursts by Senegalese against a migrant Peul population of Guinean origins. It highlights the limited extent to which epidemics shape the micro-dynamics of outbreaks of xenophobia…
Research paper
“We are the heroes because we are ready to die for this country”: Participants’ decision-making and grounded ethics in an Ebola vaccine clinical trial
This paper reports findings from social science research carried out in Kambia, Northern Sierra Leone during first year of an Ebola vaccine trial (August 2015–July 2016). The study used a range of qualitative methods to explore participant motivations for volunteering…
Research paper
Unintended consequences of the ‘bushmeat ban’ in West Africa during the 2013-2016 Ebola virus disease epidemic.
Following the 2013-2016 outbreak of Ebola virus disease (EVD) in West Africa, governments across the region imposed a ban on the hunting and consumption of meat from wild animals. This injunction was accompanied by public health messages emphasising the infectious…
Research paper
The symbolic violence of ‘outbreak’: A mixed methods, quasi-experimental impact evaluation of social protection on Ebola survivor wellbeing
Despite over 28,000 reported cases of Ebola virus disease (EVD) in the 2013-16 outbreak in West Africa, we are only beginning to trace the complex biosocial processes that have promoted its spread. Important questions remain, including the effects on survivors…
Research paper
Structural drivers of vulnerability to zoonotic disease in Africa
This paper analyses three case studies—trypanosomiasis in Zimbabwe, Ebola and Lassa fever in Sierra Leone and Rift Valley fever in Kenya — to argue that addressing the underlying structural drivers of disease vulnerability is essential for a ‘One Health’ approach…
Lessons learned from engaging communities for Ebola vaccine trials in Sierra Leone: reciprocity, relatability, relationships and respect (the four R’s)
Building trust and engaging the community are important for biomedical trials. This was core to the set up and delivery of the EBOVAC-Salone and PREVAC Ebola vaccine trials in Sierra Leone during and following the 2014–2016 West African Ebola epidemic.…
Engaging ‘communities’: anthropological insights from the West African Ebola epidemic
This article reflects on the nature of community engagement during the Ebola epidemic and demonstrates a disjuncture between local realities and what is being imagined in post-Ebola reports about the lessons that need to be learned for the future.
Conjuring Biosecurity in the Post-Ebola Kissi Triangle: The Magic of Paperwork in a Frontier Clinic.
This article considers the increasing centrality of biosecurity and epidemiological surveillance as key priorities for the Sierra Leonean health care system after the 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak.
Civilian perception of the role of the military in Nigeria’s 2014 Ebola outbreak and health-related responses in the North East region
Civilian–military relations play an important yet under-researched role in low-income and middle-income country epidemic response. One crucial component of civilian–military relations is defining the role of the military. This paper evaluates the role of Nigerian military during the 2014–2016 West…
Ebola-Myths, Realities, and Structural Violence
This briefing examines responses to the Ebola outbreak and offers a different set of explanations, rooted in the history of the region and the political economy of global health and development.
Behavioural and emotional responses to the 2014 Ebola outbreak in Nigeria: a narrative review
This paper reviews the behavioural and emotional responses to the 2014 Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak in Nigeria as documented in scientific publications and portrayed in the media between 21 July 2014 and 30 March 2015.
Accepted monitoring or endured quarantine? Ebola contacts’ perceptions in Senegal
During the 2014-2016 West Africa Ebola epidemic, transmission chains were controlled through contact tracing, i.e., identification and follow-up of people exposed to Ebola cases. WHO recommendations for daily check-ups of physical symptoms with social distancing for 21 days were unevenly…
Research paper
Perceptions of ebola virus disease among the bambuti hunter group: a mixed-methods study
The second largest Ebola virus disease (EVD) epidemic occurred in the DRC from 2018–20. The Bambuti, a hunter population in the Ituri Forest of the DRC, may be vulnerable to the zoonotic spread of EVD due to their frequent handling…
Research paper
Data flows during public health emergencies in LMICs: A people-centered mapping of data flows during the 2018 ebola epidemic in Equateur, DRC
In infectious outbreaks, rapid case detection and reporting, coordination, and context-specific strategies are needed for rapid containment. Data sharing between actors, and the speed and content of data flows, is essential for expediting epidemic response. In this study, researchers mapped…
Article
Borders areas should be used, not feared, in pandemic responses
This report moves beyond abstract assumptions and global-level debates to understand the reality of the struggles and strategies of local and national organisations during complex emergencies. We focus on the histories, politicoeconomic dynamics and everyday realities of South Sudanese NGOs…
Research paper
‘The response is like a big ship’: community feedback as a case study of evidence uptake and use in the 2018–2020 Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
The 2018–2020 Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) took place in the highly complex protracted crisis regions of North Kivu and Ituri. The Red Cross developed a community feedback (CF) data collection process through the work…
Research paper
Contesting the crisis narrative: epidemic accounts in Sierra Leone, Tanzania, and Democratic Republic of the Congo
Scientists and global commentators watched African countries closely in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, predicting an impending disaster: the virus was projected to overwhelm already weak health systems. These expectations were informed by imaginaries of Africa as an…
Briefing
Cross-Border Dynamics and Healthcare in West Nile, Uganda
Against the backdrop of on-going preparedness work in Uganda as related to the outbreak of Ebola in DRC, this brief summarises key considerations concerning cross-border dynamics and health structures and behaviours in the West Nile sub-region of north-west Uganda. It…
Research paper
The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: why there is no ‘silver bullet’
Following the outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) which started in August 2018, there were a number of extraordinary firsts and successes. But why, despite these, was the outbreak still ongoing after 20 months? This…
Briefing
From Biolegitimacy to Antihumanitarianism: Understanding People’s Resistance to Ebola Responses in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Despite the devastating impact of the Ebola pandemic which emerged in eastern DRC’s North Kivu in 2018, local populations seemed skeptical about its existence. This led to significant local resistance to the medical response, including armed attacks and violence, which…
Research paper
Institutional trust and misinformation in the response to the 2018–19 Ebola outbreak in North Kivu, DR Congo: a population-based survey
The current outbreak of Ebola in eastern DR Congo, beginning in 2018, emerged in a complex and violent political and security environment. Community-level prevention and outbreak control measures appear to be dependent on public trust in relevant authorities and information,…
Research paper
“Are You Sure It’s Not the Corona Vaccine?” An Ebola Vaccine Trial During COVID-19 in DRC
The COVID-19 pandemic began as an Ebola epidemic was unfolding in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In this article, we examine how COVID-19 influenced experiences of an Ebola vaccine trial and attitudes towards medical research in Goma. First, critical…
Research paper
Social resistance drives persistent transmission of Ebola virus disease in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo: A mixed-methods study
The second largest Ebola (EVD) epidemic in history is currently raging in Eastern DRC. Stubbornly persistent EVD transmission has been associated with social resistance, ranging from passive non-compliance to overt acts of aggression toward EVD reponse teams. We explored community…
Blog
What explains popular resistance to Ebola humanitarian responses in the DRC?
The humanitarian response to the DRC’s Ebola health emergency between 2018-20 was met with popular resistance by local populations, drawing attention to the perceived failures of humanitarian responses in the country over decades. To declare Ebola a health disaster was…
Article
In Congo, a ‘militarised’ Ebola response has fuelled community resistance
A report from The New Humanitarian reflects on how a militarised response to the Ebola outbreak in North Kivu province in 2019 caused fear and impacted people’s trust in the response, with implications for their engagement with preventative measures.
Research paper
The Oughtness of Care: Fear, Stress, and Caregiving during the 2000–2001 Ebola Outbreak in Gulu, Uganda
In this article we introduce the term oughtness of care to show how caring for sick relatives was experienced in the context of the Ebola outbreak in Gulu, Uganda, in 2000–2001.
Background report
Protecting South Sudan from the Ebola Virus Disease: Policy Implications
This Weekly Review, from October 25, 2022, draws from the Second Round of the EVD Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices (KAP) assessment conducted in South Sudan in 2019 to highlight the implications of the recent Ebola Virus Disease events in Uganda…
