Ebola in the DRC: Some Say it ‘Comes from Sorcery’

When doctors seem incapable of curing people of terminal diseases, patients and family members often seek divine intervention. Although many ill people pray and look for God’s help as a last resort, some Ebola victims in the Democratic Republic of Congo are first looking to God instead of doctors for their healing.

And by ignoring medical care and medicines, doctors say some of the patients are putting their lives and the health of others at risk.

Although 11,000 people perished in an Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa between 2013 and 2016, no one expected a resurgence in the DRC. This past spring, the World Health Organization declared an Ebola emergency in the country, but the threat subsided after six weeks.