DRC Ebola cases surpass 2,000 as more health workers begin strike

Healthcare workers in Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Ituri province strike over unpaid wages as the country’s Ebola outbreak death toll rises to 754.

The number of confirmed Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo outbreak has reached 2,011, including 754 deaths, as healthcare workers in the epicentre of the outbreak start a strike over unpaid wages and inadequate working conditions.

Healthcare workers began a strike at Bunia General Hospital in the northeastern Ituri province on Wednesday, obstructing the entrance to the hospital. They said they have not received any compensation for their work since the outbreak began, despite working under extremely difficult conditions.

The protests in Bunia come after other strikes in the region, which is the epicentre of the outbreak. Dozens of healthcare workers, including epidemiologists and grave diggers at the Rwampara General Hospital, walked off their jobs on Monday claiming they hadn’t been paid for months.

Medical charity Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres, or MSF)  says this current outbreak is the third largest and fastest growing Ebola outbreak on record.

The World Health Organization warned on Tuesday that the official death toll might be two to four times higher than the officially recorded numbers.

The current Ebola outbreak started on May 15 and has been caused by the Bundibugyo strain of the virus, for which there is no vaccine or treatment.

World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the first clinical trial to test whether an antiviral drug can prevent infection in those exposed to the Bundibugyo virus launched on Tuesday.

“If effective among high-risk contacts after exposure, this could mark a major step forward in Ebola BVD prevention,” Tedros wrote on social media.