Ebola and timely lessons from the Trust Summit

By  Nicholas Muraguri

Advisor, Global Health Diplomacy

State Department for Foreign Affairs

Over lunch at the just-concluded Trust Summit in Nairobi, a young graduate told me there is no Ebola in Kenya. She was not joking. She said that whenever she raises it with her friends, they all agree that the outbreak does not exist. Yet Kenya has confirmed nine cases of Bundibugyo Ebola, and two people have died.

Her confidence came from what she saw on social media content shaped by viral misinformation circulating across multiple platforms. Her friends were seeing the same posts: short videos and forwarded messages that made the outbreak feel distant or unreal.

What they were reacting to was not silence, but a wave of misleading content that outpaced credible information in their online spaces. This is exactly the challenge the Trust Summit identified: trust must outcompete the speed and reach of digital falsehoods.

That is the gap this outbreak has exposed. It is the gap we must close.

Africa CDC told the Summit that people who deny Ebola are a minority in Kenya. But even a minority is enough. One person who hides a symptom, skips quarantine or turns away a contact tracer can undo weeks of careful work. Epidemics are not beaten by laboratories alone.

Early detection, contact tracing, infection prevention and timely care all depend on people. People must feel safe enough to report symptoms, disclose their movements, accept quarantine and follow guidance. Without that, the best laboratory in the world works in the dark.

A laboratory can identify a virus. A surveillance system can trace its movement. A hospital can provide treatment. None of it reaches full power if people are too frightened to seek help or too distrustful to share what they know. The question this outbreak puts to us is simple: how do we build trust strong enough to withstand fear, misinformation and uncertainty?

Start with the truth.

Silence breeds suspicion. In an emergency, authorities must update the public quickly and accurately, distinguish confirmed cases from suspected ones, explain the actions being taken and acknowledge what is still unknown. Kenya has done this very well. When the country recorded its first Ebola case, WHO was notified within 24 hours, in line with our obligations under the International Health Regulations — exactly the kind of responsible reporting that the Nairobi Call to Action urges countries to uphold as part of strengthening Global Trust.

Opening the Summit, Prime Cabinet Secretary Dr Musalia Mudavadi put it plainly: “We cannot demand that people believe us; we must give them reasons to do so.” Trust is built long before a crisis arrives — and that is what allows authorities to ask for cooperation when one does.

Go where people are.

The front line of an outbreak is not only the hospital. It is the household, the market, the place of worship and the group chat. Fear of stigma, isolation or poor treatment keeps people away from care. This weekend, people who have completed 21 days in quarantine will begin returning home. They gave up three weeks of their lives to protect the rest of us. How their neighbours receive them will say more about Kenya than any press statement.

Community health promoters, religious and traditional leaders, youth networks and civil society must be equipped to explain guidance, answer concerns and relay what is happening on the ground. The goal is not compliance but cooperation — earned by demonstrating that every measure is necessary, fair and meant to save lives.

Reward the honest.

Trust must also run between governments. A country that reports an outbreak early deserves solidarity, not sanctions. If honesty brings travel bans, trade restrictions or isolation, governments will hesitate and may give a virus time to spread within communities undetected. The International Health Regulations work only if responsible reporting brings real help: financing, diagnostics, expertise and support to respond to the disease outbreak but and keep essential health services running as well.

At the Summit’s Public Health Baraza on 22 October, Kenya’s ask was clear: support, not sanctions; solidarity, not punishment; and strengthened regional response systems so East and West African countries can act together with speed and confidence. The Nairobi Call to Action emphasised that multilateral institutions and partners must provide predictable assistance so early reporting becomes the rational choice for every government.

Stand together.

No country alone can secure its border against the spread of infectious diseases. Kenya, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Nigeria must share information quickly, coordinate surveillance, agree on cross border referral and speak with one voice. Multilateral institutions such as WHO, Africa CDC, IGAD, and EAC are essential to this cooperation. Their pooled resources and joint operations make collective action possible.

Five promises must guide us: Transparent communication; long term community engagement; deeper cross border surveillance; predictable support for responsible reporting; and sustained investment in health workers, laboratories and communication systems. Trust must be a standard governments and multilateral institutions hold themselves to and not a slogan used only in crisis.

Ebola is testing our health systems and our social contract with Kenyans. Kenya’s priority is saving lives, but we must also strengthen our health systems so that they are ready for cholera, mpox and whatever comes next. Trust is the invisible infrastructure beneath every effective outbreak response, and we cannot afford to build it in the middle of the next emergency.

Over lunch at the just-concluded Trust Summit in Nairobi, a young graduate told me there is no Ebola in Kenya. She was not joking. She said that whenever she raises it with her friends, they all agree that the outbreak does not exist. Yet Kenya has confirmed nine cases of Bundibugyo Ebola, and two people have died.

Her confidence came from what she saw on social media content shaped by viral misinformation circulating across multiple platforms. Her friends were seeing the same posts: short videos and forwarded messages that made the outbreak feel distant or unreal. What they were reacting to was not silence, but a wave of misleading content that outpaced credible information in their online spaces. This is exactly the challenge the Trust Summit identified: trust must outcompete the speed and reach of digital falsehoods.

That is the gap this outbreak has exposed. It is the gap we must close.

Africa CDC told the Summit that people who deny Ebola are a minority in Kenya. But even a minority is enough. One person who hides a symptom, skips quarantine or turns away a contact tracer can undo weeks of careful work. Epidemics are not beaten by laboratories alone. Early detection, contact tracing, infection prevention and timely care all depend on people. People must feel safe enough to report symptoms, disclose their movements, accept quarantine and follow guidance. Without that, the best laboratory in the world works in the dark.

A laboratory can identify a virus. A surveillance system can trace its movement. A hospital can provide treatment. None of it reaches full power if people are too frightened to seek help or too distrustful to share what they know. The question this outbreak puts to us is simple: how do we build trust strong enough to withstand fear, misinformation and uncertainty?

Start with the truth.

Silence breeds suspicion. In an emergency, authorities must update the public quickly and accurately, distinguish confirmed cases from suspected ones, explain the actions being taken and acknowledge what is still unknown. Kenya has done this very well. When the country recorded its first Ebola case, WHO was notified within 24 hours, in line with our obligations under the International Health Regulations — exactly the kind of responsible reporting that the Nairobi Call to Action urges countries to uphold as part of strengthening Global Trust.

Opening the Summit, Prime Cabinet Secretary Dr Musalia Mudavadi put it plainly: “We cannot demand that people believe us; we must give them reasons to do so.” Trust is built long before a crisis arrives — and that is what allows authorities to ask for cooperation when one does.

Go where people are.

The front line of an outbreak is not only the hospital. It is the household, the market, the place of worship and the group chat. Fear of stigma, isolation or poor treatment keeps people away from care. This weekend, people who have completed 21 days in quarantine will begin returning home. They gave up three weeks of their lives to protect the rest of us. How their neighbours receive them will say more about Kenya than any press statement.

Community health promoters, religious and traditional leaders, youth networks and civil society must be equipped to explain guidance, answer concerns and relay what is happening on the ground. The goal is not compliance but cooperation — earned by demonstrating that every measure is necessary, fair and meant to save lives.

Reward the honest.

Trust must also run between governments. A country that reports an outbreak early deserves solidarity, not sanctions. If honesty brings travel bans, trade restrictions or isolation, governments will hesitate and may give a virus time to spread within communities undetected. The International Health Regulations work only if responsible reporting brings real help: financing, diagnostics, expertise and support to respond to the disease outbreak but and keep essential health services running as well.

At the Summit’s Public Health Baraza on 22 October, Kenya’s ask was clear: support, not sanctions; solidarity, not punishment; and strengthened regional response systems so East and West African countries can act together with speed and confidence. The Nairobi Call to Action emphasised that multilateral institutions and partners must provide predictable assistance so early reporting becomes the rational choice for every government.

Stand together.

No country alone can secure its border against the spread of infectious diseases. Kenya, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Nigeria must share information quickly, coordinate surveillance, agree on cross border referral and speak with one voice. Multilateral institutions such as WHO, Africa CDC, IGAD, and EAC are essential to this cooperation. Their pooled resources and joint operations make collective action possible.

Five promises must guide us: Transparent communication; long term community engagement; deeper cross border surveillance; predictable support for responsible reporting; and sustained investment in health workers, laboratories and communication systems. Trust must be a standard governments and multilateral institutions hold themselves to and not a slogan used only in crisis.

Ebola is testing our health systems and our social contract with Kenyans. Kenya’s priority is saving lives, but we must also strengthen our health systems so that they are ready for cholera, mpox and whatever comes next. Trust is the invisible infrastructure beneath every effective outbreak response, and we cannot afford to build it in the middle of the next emergency.

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Dr Nicholas Muraguri is Advisor, Global Health Diplomacy, State Department for Foreign Affairs.