SUPERSTITION STOPPING EBOLA VICTIMS FROM SEEKING CARE

[link to www.dailymail.co.uk]

Health workers in the Democratic Republic of Congo say local belief that Ebola is a curse or the result of evil spirits is preventing victims from seeking medical care, who are instead turning to preachers.

The pastor of an evangelical church last Wednesday died several days after he 'prayed' for an Ebola victim who went to him for help, a doctor said.

'Some sick people believe that the Ebola epidemic comes from sorcery - they refuse to be treated and prefer to pray,' said Julie Lobali, a nurse working in a hospital in Mbandaka.

[snip]

One superstition that has become prevalent in the city, she says, is believing that Ebola began in Bikoro as 'a curse on those who ate stolen meat'

[snip]

...told AFP 'a hunter put a curse on the village because his big game was stolen

[snip]

...officials have said on the radio 'this disease is incurable... It's because it's about witchcraft.'.


[snip]

Two people infected with Ebola from Bikoro went to the churches rather than a medical centre for help, local witnesses said.

Another patient, who had been hospitalised in Mbandaka, left the medical centre to seek out a local healer, they said.