How mistrust and war are fueling a deadly Ebola outbreak

DRC-Congo border — Even at the epicenter of the deadly, growing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, aid worker Jean Marie Lipe often finds it hard to convince people the virus is real. Grandmother Passy Nzali, among tens of thousands of people displaced from their homes by the long simmering conflict in her country , said after attending an information session with Lipe that she now understands bats and chimpanzees can carry Ebola — and to avoid touching them even when they're dead. But many Congolese still believe the deadly virus is something other than real — ranging from a mystical curse to a Western conspiracy — and that continues to complicate the jobs of health workers trying desperately to stop its spread. The total number of confirmed cases continues to surge, now over the 800 mark since this outbreak was declared on May 15, drawing a dire warning from the head of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "If we don't stop this outbreak very soon, it will be even worse than what we had in West Africa,"said Africa CDC Director Jean Kaseya. More than 11,000 people died and more than 23,000 were infected in West Africa's Ebola crisis from 2014 to 2016 — the worst outbreak in recorded history since the virus was discovered 50 years ago, in 1976. …