[Ebola, a matter of trust]

An outbreak of Ebola occurred in 2014-2015 in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Two opposing hypotheses may be put forward to explain its decline in these countries. The first of which attributes this decline to authoritarian emergency action imposed on the populations. This comprised the opening of specialized centres to fight the epidemic, directing people suspected of being contaminated to travel to such centres, and taking charge of cremating the remains of the deceased victims of Ebola. This process was founded on the supposed weaknesses of the health systems in question and sought to offer a substitute for them. The second hypothesis suggests that the reduction of the number of Ebola cases in West Africa was due to the combined efforts of civil society and the local health services facing up to this new challenge. This explanation is based on the experience of the Democratic Republic of the Congo which has confronted seven epidemics of Ebola since 1976 and which privileged the mobilization of local capacities involving both the health services and the community. This last hypothesis is built on the appreciation of local strengths and strives to mobilize and facilitate such assets. What was the impact of such radically different approaches to managing the outbreak?