This note provides an overview of a selection of key messages related to the Ebola outbreak and response that are circulating on WhatsApp and the local media (radio, print and video) in North Kivu, DRC, between 9-18 September 2018. A series of videos and sound recordings accompany this document. The note was prepared by Dr […]
This brief summarises key considerations concerning changes in behaviour and care-seeking practices in the context of the outbreak of Ebola in the Grand Nord of North Kivu, DRC, September 2018. Further participatory enquiry should be undertaken, but given ongoing transmission, conveying key considerations and immediate recommendations related to community engagement have been prioritised. This brief […]
This briefing paper summarises key considerations about the context of North Kivu province in relation to the outbreak of Ebola in the DRC, August 2018. The province of North Kivu has six territories: Beni, Lubero, Masisi, Nyiragongo, Rutshuru, Walikale. At the time of writing, cases of Ebola had been positively confirmed in Beni territory, and […]
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 briefs – a series of rapid operational briefs are being produced. These focus on key […]
Social Anthropologist Julienne Anoko visits communities to encourage safe and dignified burial. Infection of the Ebola virus can occur from touching the bodies of those who have died from Ebola virus disease (EVD). […]
This brief summarises key socio-anthropological considerations regarding ‘indigenous communities’ in the context of the outbreak of Ebola in the DRC, June 2018. Further participatory enquiry should be undertaken with the affected population, but given ongoing transmission, conveying key considerations for the response and immediate recommendations related to engaging communities in Équateur Province have been prioritised. […]
Why did Ebola response initiatives in the Upper Guinea Forest Region regularly encounter resistance, occasionally violent? Extending existing explanations concerning local and humanitarian “culture” and “structural violence,” and drawing on previous anthropological fieldwork and historical and documentary research, this article argues that Ebola disrupted four intersecting but precarious social accommodations that had hitherto enabled radically […]
This article outlines a research program for an anthropology of viral hemorrhagic fevers (collectively known as VHFs). It begins by reviewing the social science literature on Ebola, Marburg, and Lassa fevers and charting areas for future ethnographic attention. We theoretically elaborate the hotspot as a way of integrating analysis of the two routes of VHF infection: from animal reservoirs to humans and between humans. […]
Sociocultural, economic, and political dimensions play a defining part in epidemics and pandemics. Anthropological involvement is increasingly recognised as important, however, integration of social sciences during global health crises remains, for the most part, delayed, inconsistent, and distant from the centre of decision making and resource prioritisation. This problem is representative of much larger systemic […]
What does experimentation look like in the time of emergency? Ann H. Kelly explores the design of clinical trials amidst the Ebola crisis. […]