A decline in reported Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo is being met with caution by health officials, who warn that the official figures may be masking a more sinister reality. The World Health Organisation has recorded a drop in new infections over the past week, but experts on the ground say that this is likely due to a breakdown in surveillance rather than genuine progress. Community mistrust, attacks on health workers, and inaccessible terrain have created blind spots where the virus can spread undetected.
Dr. Lina Mputu, a epidemiologist with Médecins Sans Frontières, said the current data is 'not reflecting the true burden of the disease'. She noted that in several hotspots, contact tracing has all but collapsed, and many families are hiding sick relatives for fear of stigma or government intervention. The official case fatality rate remains above 60 per cent, but if unreported deaths are included, that figure could be far higher.
The situation is further complicated by the country's fragile digital infrastructure. Without reliable connectivity, health workers rely on paper forms and verbal reports, which can take weeks to reach central databases. This delay means that a sudden surge in cases can go unnoticed until it is too late. The WHO has deployed mobile laboratories and satellite phones, but these are stopgap measures. What is needed, experts argue, is a sustained investment in digital health surveillance systems that can operate in low-resource settings.
But technology alone cannot solve the deeper crisis of trust. In communities where Ebola responders have been met with stones and machetes, any digital tool will be viewed with suspicion. The key is to pair innovation with community engagement. This means training local health workers to use mobile data collection apps, ensuring data is shared transparently with community leaders, and using SMS alerts to dispel rumours.
The irony is that the tools exist. Blockchain-based contact tracing, drone delivery of vaccines, and AI-powered diagnostics have all been piloted in the region. But they have not been scaled because of chronic underfunding and political inertia. 'We are treating a 21st-century virus with 19th-century logistics,' said Dr. Jean-Jacques Muyembe, the Congolese virologist who helped discover Ebola. 'The world has the resources to stop this. It lacks the will.'
The current lull in cases could be a golden opportunity to strengthen the response. But if the world looks away now, it will only be storing up trouble. The next outbreak could be far worse.
As I write this, I think about the user experience of a disease outbreak. For the people in affected villages, it is a terrifying interface with a system that often fails them. They queue for vaccines that don't arrive, they hear conflicting messages on the radio, they watch their neighbours die alone. The digital divide is not about gadgets. It is about the right to be counted, to be diagnosed, to be saved. If we truly believe in inclusive technology, we must start by ensuring that every life is recorded, not just every case.
The official numbers say the crisis is easing. The unofficial numbers, buried in the noise of a broken system, tell a different story. We must listen to that noise before it falls silent.
