As the Democratic Republic of Congo battles a deadly new Ebola outbreak, survivors and global health experts are urging authorities to act quickly, invest more resources and build trust within affected communities to stop the virus from spreading further.
Among those sharing painful memories is Liberian Ebola survivor Patrick Faley, who lived through West Africa’s devastating Ebola epidemic a decade ago — the deadliest outbreak in history that killed more than 11,000 people across Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.
“I saw the burial team taking eight of them,” Faley recalled. “They put them into a bag and carried them to the burial. I made new friends although they ended up dying. I was the only person left there.”
Faley had worked as a community volunteer for Liberia’s Ministry of Health during the 2014 outbreak, traveling from village to village to educate people about how Ebola spreads through bodily fluids and why traditional funeral rituals had to stop.
However, while attending the funeral of a colleague who died from the virus, he forgot the precautions he once promoted.
“You have to shake hands; you have to hug people,” he said. “Forgetting that we had an emergency crisis in our country.”
Just days later, Faley contracted Ebola himself and was admitted to an overcrowded treatment center in Monrovia filled with dying patients.
“We sat in the ambulance, and people were just dying at the front of the hospital,” he remembered.
Although Faley survived, tragedy struck his family when both his wife and young son became infected. His wife recovered, but his four-year-old son Momo died from the disease.
Now, similar fears are resurfacing in eastern DR Congo, where more than 170 people have reportedly died in the latest outbreak, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Health officials say lessons from past outbreaks are shaping the current response. Funerals for suspected Ebola victims have been banned to reduce transmission, though the restrictions have already sparked anger in some communities. In Bunia, near the outbreak’s epicenter, angry residents reportedly set fire to part of a hospital after authorities refused to release a body for burial.
WHO Africa area manager Dr Patrick Otim stressed that rapid action remains critical.
“One of the biggest lessons from previous outbreaks is that speed matters,” he said. “Delays in detecting cases, isolating patients and engaging communities can allow transmission chains to expand very quickly.”
He added that medical treatment alone cannot contain Ebola outbreaks.
“Community trust is essential. Safe and dignified burials, local leadership engagement and clear communication are just as important as laboratories and treatment centres,” he explained.
The current outbreak marks DR Congo’s 17th Ebola outbreak since the virus was first discovered in 1976. It is caused by the rare Bundibugyo strain, which has no approved vaccine or proven treatment.
Leading Ebola expert Professor Thomas Geisbert from the University of Texas Medical Branch warned that existing vaccines developed for the more common Zaire strain are ineffective against Bundibugyo because the virus differs genetically by around 30%.
The WHO estimates it could take up to nine months to develop an effective vaccine, although researchers at Oxford University say they hope to begin clinical trials within months.
Geisbert, who helped develop the Ervebo Ebola vaccine, said vaccine development and distribution could cost more than $1 billion — a financial burden many pharmaceutical companies are unwilling to take on due to limited profitability.
Kenyan biochemistry professor Wallace Bulimo criticized the lack of investment in research on the Bundibugyo strain.
“It was first discovered in 2007, so we should never have ignored it,” he said.
Faley also warned authorities against telling communities that Ebola has “no cure,” arguing such messaging discourages infected people from seeking medical treatment.
“If people hear there is no cure, they may think going to a treatment unit means they are simply going there to die,” he said.
He further cautioned against overwhelming local communities with large numbers of foreign aid workers, saying it created fear and distrust during Liberia’s outbreak.
Despite the challenges, WHO officials say DR Congo possesses some of the world’s most experienced Ebola responders after dealing with numerous outbreaks over the past decade.
“The challenge is not lack of expertise,” Dr Otim said. “The challenge is insecurity, displacement, poor infrastructure and intense population movement.”
Scientists say there is some cautious optimism because the Bundibugyo strain historically has a lower fatality rate — around 30% — compared to other Ebola strains. However, experts warn the virus may have a longer incubation period, allowing infected people to unknowingly spread it within communities for longer.
The first confirmed patient in the current outbreak was a nurse who developed symptoms on April 24, but officials say it took nearly three weeks to confirm Ebola was responsible.
Meanwhile, WHO plans to prioritize the use of an experimental anti-viral drug called Obladesivir, originally developed during the Covid-19 pandemic, in hopes of preventing infections among those exposed to Ebola patients.
For Faley, the message to those currently suffering in DR Congo is one of hope and resilience.
“Our arms are open as Liberians,” he said. “We want to help survivors understand what it means to survive Ebola. I will always be here to advocate for survival.”