What is Ebola and why is stopping this outbreak so difficult?

Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) director Dr Jean Kaseya told BBC World Service's Newsday programme that funerals were a particular concern - as they were during previous outbreaks of Ebola.He said public health information campaigns were "providing information on how to handle funerals" and the importance of basic hygiene and sanitation, as well as providing protection measures for health workers. Kamba said the outbreak was slow in being reported due to infected communities believing it to be "witchcraft" or a "mystical illness", resulting in people seeking treatment from prayer centres and witchdoctors rather than hospitals.Where have cases been reported?The first reported cases were in the Ituri towns of Mongwalu and Rwampara, as well as Bunia.There has also been a case in eastern DR Congo's biggest city, Goma, which has a population of around 850,000 people and is under rebel control.In Goma, the confirmed case involved a woman who had travelled to the city after her husband died of Ebola in Bunia, Jean-Jacques Muyembe, the director of the Congolese Institut National de Recherche Biomédicale (INRB), told AFP news agency.One person has also died in Uganda's capital, Kampala, while another is being treated. They were both Congolese nationals who had recently travelled to the country.How are rebels responding?Goma, the capital of the North Kivu province, is currently controlled by rebels from the AFC-M23 group, who say they are creating an Ebola response team.On Sunday, AFC-M23 spokesman Lawrence Kanyuka said they had "immediately activated" response mechanisms in conjunction with health services and local medical facilities, to prevent the spread of Ebola in areas under their control.Neither the government nor the rebels have said whether they would be willing to put aside their differences to work together to tackle the outbreak.However, the case in Goma was confirmed by the INRB, which is a state-run body, so that does provide some grounds for optimism.What are Rwanda and other neighbouring countries doing?Africa CDC has warned of the high risk of spread to countries that border DR Congo, specifically Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan.It expects to speak to the four countries on "how to strengthen the response".