A massive public health blind spot has emerged in the Ebola response in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), as communication barriers are leaving many people with hearing impairment cut off from crucial health information about the deadly outbreak.
Since the ongoing Ebola epidemic was declared in May, the Congolese Red Cross (CRC) has launched a nationwide awareness-raising campaign, with posters put up on the streets and health messages broadcast on television and radio stations to reach as many residents as possible.
However, for the nation's deaf community, these life-saving updates have been hitting a wall of silence.
In the northeastern city of Kisangani, many deaf people still struggle to understand the message being disseminated, as it is not tailored to their specific needs.
"So far, preventive measures have only been explained to us superficially. We aren't truly equipped. We need adapted educational materials to better understand the signs of the disease and recognize the symptoms of Ebola," said Zacharie Dunga, director of the Espoir School for the Deaf in Kisangani.
The DRC government has announced targeted intervention plans, promising to restructure its public health response to fully integrate people with disabilities.
"We have implemented a range of strategies tailored to each group, including people with disabilities --the visually impaired, and the deaf or hard of hearing. We have produced communication materials in Braille. We are also refining our messaging to see how we can incorporate sign language interpreters to convey information regarding EVD (Ebola Virus Disease)," said Christian Tshilenge, an expert in risk communication and community engagement.
The current outbreak has become the largest and deadliest Ebola epidemic in the DRC's history and the second largest globally, behind the 2014-2016 epidemic in West Africa.
According to the latest data released by the DRC government, the country has recorded 7,541 confirmed Ebola infections as of Saturday, with 3,639 fatalities.
Communication barriers put deaf community at risk amid ebola outbreak in DR Congo
The surging U.S. immigration crackdown since 2025 has negatively impacted Latino businesses in Los Angeles, home to the country's biggest Hispanic population, where increases in federal arrests of migrants have led to fewer customers and lower sales.
Teodoro Cuevas, a Mariachi musician who has come to the Mariachi Plaza in Boyle Heights -- a cultural hub for Los Angeles' Latino community -- to play music for 25 years, is one of many workers and business owners feeling the effects of a major expansion in immigration enforcement.
"There used to be a lot of people here. The mariachis were here, dressed and ready to work every day. The work isn't the same anymore," he said.
Federal immigration arrests nationwide reached nearly 51,000 in August, a record for a third consecutive month.
In Los Angeles County, business owners say greater enforcement has spread fear through Latino neighborhoods.
A study by the Latino Policy and Politics Institute at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) found the June 2025 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids led to 46,000 fewer customer visits and more than 3 million U.S. dollars in estimated losses near nine immigration enforcement sites in the two weeks after the operations, including the Fashion District, an iconic commercial and cultural landmark of Downtown Los Angeles.
"Before, there were so many people you could barely walk. Now, there's more space and fewer people," said Eric Vaquero, a fabric store worker.
Leonardo Crespo, owner of a restaurant in Boyle Heights, said he used to serve about 100 customers a day, but the figure is now closer to 20 in some days.
"The concern about other people, it's just getting hauled in, because you look a certain way. That's it. It doesn't matter. I had my mother telling me. 'You should carry your birth certificate.' I said I'm not going to do that," he said.
Those concerns are not limited to undocumented immigrants. A ProPublica investigation documented more than 170 U.S. citizens held by immigration agents in the first nine months of 2025.
At least 53 people died in ICE custody between the beginning of President Donald Trump's second term on January 20, 2025 and mid-July 2026, according to a joint report by Human Rights Watch and Physicians for Human Rights.
"So, if you are a Hispanic person that even was born in the U.S., a citizen, you may be scared of going out, because ICE has big pressure to detain people, and they are known for being hostile. So you actually fear for your life or safety or think 'I don't want to be detained.' Right?" said Julio Sevilla, a professor at University of Georgia.
Latino businesses in Los Angeles struggling amid surging federal immigration enforcement
