In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the ancient human need to mourn and bury the dead has become a fault line in one of the worst Ebola outbreaks the country has ever faced. Burial teams — essential to breaking the chain of transmission — find themselves caught between the imperatives of epidemiology and the weight of cultural tradition, as communities resist practices they experience as violation rather than protection. With more than 3,000 lives lost and the virus spreading faster than previous emergencies, the crisis reveals a truth older than any pathogen: that trust, once broken, is hard
Ebola burial teams in Congo face community resistance amid infection fears
Ebola deaths in Congo exceed 3,000, with ongoing community resistance to safe burial practices hindering containment efforts.