A recent assessment, external by the charity ActionAid in Ituri suggested about a third of respondents did not believe Ebola was a real disease, instead viewing it as a spiritual phenomenon or the product of sorcery.

“Ebola misinformation is Ebola’s greatest ally,” Dr Wessam Mankoula from the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention told the BBC. “False rumours delay care for people who need help and fuel attacks on health workers and health facilities, disrupting outbreak control and giving the virus more opportunities to spread.”

Experts say distrust has been fuelled by decades of unrest in eastern DR Congo — from prolonged conflict to outside interference and competition over valuable minerals, such as gold and coltan, which have drawn in foreign companies and armed groups.

“You have a very strong base of being very distrustful of anything coming from outside, including the central government,” says Dr Jean-Vivien Mombouli, who has previously advised governments across the region on how to respond to Ebola outbreaks.

Health officials argue that containing the outbreak now depends as much on rebuilding trust as on medical treatment, warning that without being accepted by communities, they cannot do their work.

“Mistrust is the real battleground,” WHO chief, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, wrote on social media, external in June. “Win trust, and we win this.”