Africa: Africa CDC Strengthens Its Response to Rumors After More Than 80 Deaths

Disinformation in Africa has become a direct risk to the health and safety of populations. Between October 2025 and July 2026, more than 80 people were killed in six countries following false accusations of “genital organ theft,” a type of rumor without medical basis that triggered collective assaults.

The tally, compiled by the BBC Global Disinformation Unit based on police data, shows that these accusations have circulated in several countries in East, Central, and Southern Africa. In Kenya, five people were killed on the coast, while Malawi recorded eight deaths. In Mozambique, authorities reported dozens of victims during a surge of violence linked to the same rumors.

The spread of unverified content on social media has accelerated the dissemination of these alerts. For Africa CDC, the phenomenon is no longer just a matter of communication: rumors can undermine trust in health authorities, disrupt prevention campaigns, and complicate the response to epidemics.

It is in this context that a continental workshop dedicated to the BIIM system was held in Mombasa, Kenya, with representatives from Kenya, Mauritania, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe, and Burundi. The objective is to harmonize the way countries detect, verify, and address signals that may affect health behaviors.

BIIM, a community monitoring tool

BIIM combines social listening, community feedback, behavioral data, and signals from health services. Africa CDC aims to make it a structured system enabling states to more quickly transform rumors and perceptions into information useful for decision-making.

In West Africa, Sierra Leone, Gambia, and Ghana have already begun implementing the system, while Cape Verde and Côte d’Ivoire are among the next announced steps. The InfoCheck 2026 program in Benin is part of the same effort to combat misinformation. The Africa CDC continental framework for 2026-2030 more broadly aims to institutionalize behavioral intelligence and infodemic management within health systems.

The challenge is particularly sensitive during epidemic outbreaks, as illustrated by the response to Ebola in the DRC in the face of refusal of certain tests. False information can divert patients from healthcare facilities, fuel distrust towards medical teams, or provoke dangerous behaviors even before an official denial is circulated.

The next step will therefore be to integrate these mechanisms into national surveillance and response systems. For Africa CDC, the challenge is to detect a rumor early enough to prevent it from becoming an obstacle to public health or a factor of violence.