The Ebola outbreak in Congo has claimed at least 506 lives out of 1,561 confirmed cases since it was declared on May 15, according to the Ministry of Health. The spread continues to outpace response efforts.
Health Workers Threaten Strike
Frontline workers in Ituri province, the epicenter of the outbreak, issued a 24-hour notice on Sunday threatening to strike if authorities fail to pay them and improve working conditions. The workers include health professionals who have been laboring with little rest while facing attacks from angry residents and widespread skepticism about the virus.
In a notice to the government, the workers said they had not been paid benefits since the outbreak began and lack adequate supplies. They also complained of poor salaries, the arrogance of teams from Kinshasa, and the excessive use of labor from other provinces without prioritizing local workers.
Impact on Response Efforts
The strike threat comes just days after enrollment for clinical trials started, raising concerns about its impact. Any strike could hamper efforts to slow the spread of the outbreak, now confirmed in three eastern provinces: Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu.
The lack of approved vaccines or treatments for the Bundibugyo virus has complicated response efforts. The more common Zaire virus, for which a vaccine exists, was responsible for most of Congo's past 16 outbreaks.
Challenges and Statistics
Officials have yet to identify the outbreak's patient zero and need to trace possibly tens of thousands of contacts. The first month of this outbreak was already the worst on record, according to the World Health Organization.
