As Ebola spreads in Congo, a radio station tries to stop health
misinformation
[June 05, 2026]
By JUSTIN KABUMBA and OPE ADETAYO
BUNIA, Congo (AP) — The rare Bundibugyo type of Ebola that Congo is
battling took locals by surprise after weeks of spreading unnoticed.
Hundreds of cases were suspected when the outbreak was declared in May,
but many dismissed the news as a “Western conspiracy.”
Congolese authorities announced the new Ebola outbreak on May 15. At
least 63 people have died from 381 confirmed cases, Congolese Health
Minister Samuel Roger Kamba said late Thursday. Yet the outbreak has
been challenged by skepticism, attacks on health workers and
misinformation.
Vérité Johnson, a journalist and editorial secretary at the Radio
Télévision Mont Bleu station in Bunia, the eastern Ituri province
capital where the outbreak is concentrated, decided to produce a new
program to combat rumors.
The radio show has emerged as a vital tool to win over some residents
who have been unaware or skeptical about the facts of Bundibugyo.
The 45-minute program runs daily at 10 a.m., reminding people of the
dangers and regularly featuring health specialists providing updates and
answering questions. The show's jingles about the virus also play
intermittently throughout the day and residents are able to call in with
questions.
“So far, there’s still a layer of resistance within the population, and
that’s where the media plays an important role,” Johnson said.
Resistance to protocols during public health emergencies is common in
Congo, which is battling its 17th Ebola outbreak since the virus was
first identified there in 1976. There currently is no approved vaccine
or treatment for the Bundibugyo type of Ebola, which has added another
layer of fear.
Widespread rumors, often arising from fear and misinformation,
discourage residents from adhering to health warnings or seeking medical
help during an outbreak, health officials say. People often hear about a
disease through the media as authorities and international partners
scramble to contain the outbreak.
Unfounded rumors link Ebola to money
Some residents allege illnesses like Ebola are elevated by opportunists
trying to profit.
“They don’t separate people who have Ebola from those who have the flu
at the hospital. Given the manner in which people are treated, we deduce
it is about money,” said Samson Gerson, 52-year-old Bunia resident and
father of seven children. “I can never take the vaccine, I prefer to die
because if the vaccine arrives, it can scare us even more.”
Analysts say some people in Congo have been receptive to disinformation
due to mistrust of the healthcare system and because some local
officials have not become actively involved in containing the disease.
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Verité Johnson works at a community radio station, providing daily
awareness and updates on Ebola in Bunia, Congo, Thursday, June 4,
2026. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)
 “What is key is to involve the local
actors at all levels. If we try to impose what we think is right to
the community, we are running towards failure,” said Basile Rambaud,
emergency programs director for Mercy Corps in Congo. “If people do
not trust the response, they end up delaying to seek care, rejecting
protective measures, or avoiding working with health teams, giving
the virus more time to spread.”
Ituri province residents have launched at least three attacks
against health centers, demanding the bodies of deceased patients.
Some people who are believed to have Ebola left the centers during
the attacks and health workers could not account for their
whereabouts.
“We don’t even know what the body of a person who died of Ebola
looks like, but we just see images and montages on our phone,” said
Bunia resident Chantal Francine, who expressed doubts over the
reported deaths.
Full scale of the outbreak is unknown
The virus has rapidly spread from an initial three health zones to
24, according to World Health Organization Director-General Tedros
Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who said Wednesday that the virus “had a big
start.”
Experts and WHO officials have warned the numbers might not reflect
the true scale of the epidemic as weeks of testing for the wrong
type caused a delay in containing the virus.
The outbreak has been worsened by an ongoing armed conflict between
Congo's government and the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group, as well as
attacks by the Islamic State-affiliated group the Allied Democratic
Force, which killed 16 people in Beni territory in North Kivu on
Tuesday.
The attacks by both groups have caused massive displacement of
people living in the conflict areas, officials said.
Despite the growing Bundibugyo outbreak and the conditions that are
enabling the disease to spread, Johnson said Radio Télévision Mont
Bleu continues providing residents with vital facts.
“Everyone is free to think what they want, but the information
remains the same. The epidemic is here,” Johnson said.
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Adetayo reported from Lagos, Nigeria.
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