Ebola and Misinformation: Red Cross Volunteers in DRC Fight a Second, Deadly Epidemic

More than one hundred days after the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) was officially declared, the disease has claimed more than 2,500 lives. A network of more than 900 Red Cross volunteers has reached more than 100,000 people in affected communities with vital public health information and practical support. But those volunteers are warning that they are fighting a double epidemic. Alongside Ebola, they are fighting misinformation. Sarah Clayton-Fisher, director of global partnerships and programmes at the British Red Cross, says that when fear takes hold, misinformation can spread just as quickly as the virus itself. Trust is essential during an outbreak. Without it, people are less likely to seek medical help when symptoms appear, less likely to follow public health advice, less likely to report cases, and less likely to support efforts to stop transmission. In the DRC, many people still view Ebola as frightening and poorly understood. Red Cross staff hear directly from communities about their lack of trust in the organisations trying to protect them. They see people refusing treatment, fleeing from treatment centres, and even denying that Ebola exists. This matters when communities are being asked to change deeply personal habits, especially the way they bury and mourn their loved ones. People cannot be forced to accept these changes. They have to be persuaded, and persuasion requires trust. The Red Cross believes that in a health emergency, receiving accurate and credible information is as important as receiving medical care. Without a foundation of trust, the best medical facilities and the most sophisticated equipment cannot overcome the suspicion of the people they are meant to serve.

Without trust, the consequences are not just a lack of cooperation; they are attacks on health workers and the destruction of medical equipment. Twelve Red Cross colleagues have been attacked and injured while doing their jobs. Ambulances and emergency response equipment have been damaged and destroyed. Some of these attacks have targeted teams carrying out safe and dignified burials. The attacks make an already difficult outbreak harder to control and put more lives at risk. Many people in affected communities do not understand how infectious the body of an Ebola victim can be. They do not understand why they cannot touch, hold, or prepare their dead relatives for burial in the customary way. This is a devastating moment for any family. To be asked to hand over a loved one to strangers in protective suits, without being able to say goodbye in the usual way, can feel like a violation. It is not hard to see why many families resist. The Red Cross knows that the solution is not to dismiss these concerns, but to listen to them. Safe and dignified burials are not only about preventing infection; they are also about respecting the dead and supporting the living. When communities understand that, they are much more willing to cooperate. When they do not, the disease can move silently through the community and the response is severely set back. Misinformation has real and serious effects, both for the volunteers who risk their lives and for the people who need their help. Every attack, every damaged ambulance, and every act of resistance makes it harder to contain Ebola. The longer this continues, the more people will die from a disease that can be stopped if communities are given the information and respect they need to make safe choices.

There is clear evidence that community engagement can overcome even deep resistance. In the 2018 outbreak in the DRC, volunteers went door to door to share accurate information, hosted radio talk shows, and organised outreach events. Over time, community resistance to safe and dignified burials dropped dramatically, helping bring that outbreak under control. The same approach is being used now, and it is being improved with the help of community feedback. One simple change has been particularly effective: body bags are now designed with clear material over the face of the deceased. This allows families to see their loved one for a final time, to begin the grieving process, and to trust that the remains are being treated with care. The change demonstrates a core principle of humanitarian work: effective action is done with communities, not to communities. Trust cannot be built from a distance. It has to come from people who understand the communities they serve, who know local languages, customs, and concerns. The 900 volunteers of the DRC Red Cross are not outsiders. They are part of the very communities that are struggling with fear and suspicion. They hear rumours long before they reach the news. They know which community leaders are trusted. They are, in many ways, the most important asset in the fight to stop Ebola. The Red Cross Red Crescent Movement describes these volunteers as essential to the pursuit of trust. Their presence turns abstract public health messages into conversations between people who know and care about each other. That is why the simple act of listening to community feedback and changing a single piece of equipment can have such a powerful effect. It shows that the people running the response are not ignoring local fears. It shows that they are willing to adapt, to learn, and to treat affected families as partners rather than problems.

These volunteers are putting their own lives at risk every day. They work in communities where Ebola is present, and they know that one mistake can be fatal. Three Red Cross colleagues in the DRC have already died from Ebola. They died in May, before the outbreak was even officially identified, and they are counted among the first known victims of the epidemic. Despite this, volunteers remain at the centre of the response, equipped with protective gear and trained in strict safety protocols. They continue because they are not serving strangers; they are serving their own families, friends, and neighbours. Their long-term presence in affected communities is what makes their information credible. They have built trust through years of engagement, and that trust is essential in a crisis. But the Red Cross warns that this work is being made more difficult by reductions in aid funding. The cuts have reduced the capacity of health systems to identify and respond to Ebola cases. They have also undermined the confidence that communities have in authorities, confidence that took decades to build. When funding disappears, so does continuity. Volunteers are left with fewer resources, and communities have fewer reasons to believe that the help they are promised will actually arrive. No community can fight an outbreak like this alone. The outbreak began in communities, but it will not end until communities receive sustained support from the outside. That support must include not only medical supplies and money, but also patient, respectful engagement with local fears and concerns. Volunteers can build trust, but they cannot build it without the time and resources needed to stay present, to listen, and to respond over the long term.

The global response must therefore include a systematic effort to counter misinformation. This is not a side issue; in a health emergency, accurate information can be as important as vaccines and medicine. Technology companies need to take responsibility for the content that circulates on their platforms. Social media and messaging apps have been used to spread false cures, conspiracy theories, and claims that the disease does not exist. Platforms should prioritise authoritative information from trusted sources, such as official public health authorities and the Red Cross. Policymakers need to monitor and regulate harmful misinformation without silencing legitimate speech. Humanitarian agencies need to be ready to detect damaging narratives quickly and respond to them in partnership with local communities. The goal should be to help community members become messengers of truth. When people hear accurate information from a trusted neighbour rather than an outside official, they are far more likely to accept it. This is exactly the kind of work Red Cross volunteers are doing every day in the DRC. They are not just distributing leaflets; they are engaging in conversations, answering questions, and slowly rebuilding confidence. Their work proves that misinformation can be fought, but only with the right support. Governments, technology companies, and humanitarian agencies must recognise that trustworthy information is a matter of life and death. In a crisis, a rumour can spread faster than a health alert. A false claim can turn a treatment centre into a target. A lie can make a family hide their sick child instead of seeking help. The only reliable answer is to flood communities with credible, reliable, and culturally respectful information, delivered by people who are known and trusted.

To stop Ebola, the world must invest in trust. The Red Cross says this takes time, honesty, patience, and humility. It cannot be achieved with a single campaign or a social media post. It requires consistent presence, genuine listening, and a willingness to adapt. When a community says that a body bag prevents them from saying goodbye, the response should be to change the body bag. When families say they are afraid of treatment centres, the response should be to show them what happens inside. The British Red Cross, through its director of global partnerships and programmes Sarah Clayton-Fisher, has made the case clearly: investing in trust will save lives. The international community has a choice. It can continue to focus narrowly on the biology of the virus, or it can support the social response that determines whether people actually follow public health advice. In the DRC, more than 2,500 people have died, and Red Cross volunteers are still being attacked for trying to save lives. The next phase of the outbreak will be determined not only by medical tools, but by the presence of people ordinary enough to be trusted and brave enough to stay. The volunteers are there. They need the world to stand with them. Trust is not a vague concept; it is a practical, lifesaving part of outbreak response. It takes time to build and can be destroyed in an instant. But as the Red Cross has shown in the DRC, it can also be rebuilt through daily acts of respect, dialogue, and care. That work is already saving lives, and with greater international support, it can help bring this devastating outbreak to an end.