The treatment centers have saved people, such as Daniella, a baby who arrived at a treatment center with Ebola when she was 12 days old. A month later, she was deemed cured, according to the Congolese health department.

“Can we stop the epidemic? Certainly we can,” said Mike Ryan, who runs the World Health Organization’s emergencies program. But to do so, he said, a political solution that reduced the violence was first needed.

For now, many of the front-line Ebola workers say they keep their work a secret from neighbors. Perhaps no job is riskier than that of the burial teams, who retrieve the bodies of people suspected of dying from Ebola from grieving families.

Mr. Muhindo, the burial team leader in Beni, recounted the funeral last month of the 3-year-old boy who had died of Ebola. The boy’s father, a soldier, stood in stunned grief. But other mourners crowded the coffin, demanding that the boy’s body be inspected for signs of organ theft. Mr. Muhindo, who has received the Ebola vaccine, said he unzipped the bag to the boy’s sternum.

“They said, ‘Open it up all the way so we can see the entire body,’” Mr. Muhindo recalled.

People shouted that he would be buried next. As he tried to slip away, someone — perhaps another soldier — brandished a grenade and threatened to blow up the team.