This brief summarises key considerations about the context of Équateur Province in relation to the outbreak of Ebola in the DRC, June
2018. Further participatory enquiry should be undertaken with the affected population, but given ongoing transmission, conveying key
considerations for the response in Équateur Province has been prioritised.
This brief is based on a rapid review of existing published and grey literature, professional ethnographic research in the broader equatorial region of DRC, personal communication with administrative and health officials in the country, and experience of previous Ebola outbreaks. In shaping this brief, informal discussions were held with colleagues from UNICEF, WHO, IFRC and the GOARN Social Science Group, and input was also given by expert advisers from the Institut Pasteur, CNRS-MNHN-Musée de l’Homme Paris, KU Leuven, Social Science Research Council, Paris School of Economics, Institut de Recherche pour le Développment, Réseau Anthropologie des Epidémies Emergentes, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, University of Edinburgh, Stellenbosch University, University of Wisconsin, Tufts University, Institute of Development Studies, Anthrologica and others. The brief was developed by Lys Alcayna-Stevens and Juliet Bedford, and is the responsibility of the Social Science in Humanitarian Action Platform.