Health workers at the Elikya Ebola Treatment Center in Bunia, eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, stopped work on Saturday over unpaid bonuses, disrupting care at the center of a rapidly expanding outbreak. The Associated Press reported that doctors, nurses and security staff joined the action as government data released Friday put the national total at 2,973 confirmed cases and 1,309 deaths.
About 100 workers protested outside the facility in Ituri province after staff voted to strike until authorities offered concrete solutions to two months of unpaid performance bonuses. Workers said the arrears had damaged morale and patient care. The stoppage followed a separate strike at Bunia General Hospital, the region's largest medical center, where some personnel said they had received no payment since joining the response.
The latest government figures also listed 766 patients in isolation or hospitals and 540 recoveries. Ituri accounted for nearly 90 percent of confirmed infections, making continuity of treatment, laboratory work, safe burials and contact tracing especially important in and around Bunia. The outbreak, caused by the less common Bundibugyo virus, has been active since Congo declared it on May 15.
World Health Organization data published before the newest government count documented the same steep trajectory. WHO recorded 2,124 confirmed Congolese cases and 828 deaths by July 15, after cases increased by 50 percent and deaths by 91 percent in two weeks. It also reported 119 infections and 36 deaths among health workers at that point, indicating persistent occupational risks and gaps in infection prevention.
Containing the disease is difficult because there is no approved vaccine or specific treatment for Bundibugyo Ebola. WHO says early testing, isolation, optimized supportive care, contact monitoring and safe burials can reduce transmission and deaths. Conflict, displacement, attacks on health facilities, population movement linked to mining and incomplete contact follow-up have made those measures harder to sustain.
The immediate question is whether Congolese authorities can settle the arrears and restore full staffing before further disruptions weaken an already strained response. WHO assesses the risk inside Congo as very high and in neighboring countries with land borders as high, while the global risk remains low. It advises against travel or trade restrictions and calls for coordinated surveillance, cross-border preparedness and sustained support for frontline care.
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