More health workers strike as Ebola cases in Congo near 3,000, including over 1,300 deaths - ABC News - Breaking News, Latest News and Videos

What the report says

ABC News, carrying Associated Press reporting, says health workers at the Elikya Ebola Treatment Center in Bunia, eastern Congo, stopped work on Saturday over unpaid compensation, interrupting care in the center of a worsening outbreak. Doctors, nurses and security staff joined the walkout in Ituri province, with about 100 workers demonstrating outside the facility and demanding payment before returning to duty.

According to government figures cited in the report, Congo had recorded 2,973 confirmed Ebola cases and 1,309 deaths as of Friday, in what authorities describe as the fastest-growing outbreak on record. Staff said they were missing two months of performance bonuses. Dr. Adelard Lufungula, an operations manager for the Ebola response, told AP the payment problem was being addressed through mobile money transfers and that arrears should be settled in the coming days.

The strike followed a similar action last week at Bunia General Hospital, the region’s largest medical facility, also over unpaid salaries. Prime Minister Judith Suminwa visited Ituri treatment hubs shortly before the latest walkout and faced appeals from medical personnel over payment concerns. The World Health Organization says more than 100 health workers have been infected since the outbreak began.

ABC/AP reports that the outbreak, caused by the Bundibugyo strain, began on May 15 and is concentrated in Ituri, which accounts for nearly 90% of confirmed cases. Officials are also dealing with armed conflict, displacement, attacks on health facilities, community mistrust, limited funding and no approved vaccine or treatment for this Ebola strain. WHO assesses the risk of spread beyond Central Africa as low because Ebola requires direct contact with infected bodily fluids.