Ebola Burial Teams Endure Exhaustion and Community Hostility

Every day, Yuma Adolphe and his colleagues dig graves, prepare bodies and handle coffins in Congo's Ituri province, the center of the country's deadliest Ebola outbreak. Their work is both dangerous and emotionally punishing, and the teams say they are nearing their limits as the response expands.

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It is difficult, but we try to push ourselves beyond our limits.

Authorities deployed small burial teams to Ebola hotspots after the outbreak began in mid-May. The workers receive $20 a day for handling some of the most dangerous tasks in the response. They say exhaustion is mounting, but they continue because safe burials help prevent the virus from spreading further.

"It is difficult, but we try to push ourselves beyond our limits," Adolphe told The Associated Press. He added: "We have to look at our own mental well-being, and physically the fatigue mounts, but we keep going to ensure the community is protected."

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We have to look at our own mental well-being, and physically the fatigue mounts, but we keep going to ensure the community is protected.

The teams also face anger from bereaved families. Health workers must handle the bodies because Ebola spreads through direct contact with infected people's blood or bodily fluids, and experts say victims' bodies can still contain substantial amounts of active virus. Since May, health workers and burial teams have faced attacks from families who have lost loved ones.

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Usually, the body is handed over to the family, who can handle it however they wish, in accordance with our African customs.

"Usually, the body is handed over to the family, who can handle it however they wish, in accordance with our African customs," Adolphe said. "But in this situation, it's difficult to let the family handle the body as they please. They are deprived of certain rituals, and that's what leads to misunderstandings." Jeanne Alasha, adviser to Ituri's military governor on health and humanitarian affairs, said those who continue attacking the teams are committing offenses punishable by law.

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But in this situation, it's difficult to let the family handle the body as they please. They are deprived of certain rituals, and that's what leads to misunderstandings.