DR Congo’s Ebola crisis has surged past 2,000 confirmed infections, becoming the fastest-growing outbreak on record as strikes, violence and funding shortages strain the response.
Government data released overnight put the toll at 2,011 confirmed cases and 754 deaths.
At Bunia General Hospital, the region’s largest medical center, health workers walked off the job Wednesday over compensation, joining other frontline staff who have staged strikes at the outbreak’s epicenter.
Health professionals and fellow emergency workers barricaded the hospital entrance, saying they had received no compensation despite operating in difficult conditions.
More than 100 health care workers have contracted the virus since the outbreak began, according to the World Health Organization.
The Central African country has been fighting the outbreak, caused by the rare Bundibugyo virus, since May 15. Congo’s Health Ministry said 753 patients remain in hospitals or isolation, while 366 people have recovered.
Efforts to trace people exposed to the virus continue to lag, with contact-tracing coverage holding at 67%.
Even as the response expands, infections are spreading more quickly than health officials can track them. At least 80% of new cases are linked to previously unknown chains of transmission, the WHO said Tuesday.
Authorities have also been unable to identify patient zero. At the same time, displacement driven by armed conflict and population movements connected to mining have complicated attempts to trace thousands of people who encountered infected individuals.
Many of the latest reported fatalities involved people who died in their communities before reaching a health facility or receiving treatment, Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, the WHO health emergencies chief, said Tuesday after returning from Bunia in Ituri, the province hardest hit by the outbreak.
A funding shortfall, attacks on medical facilities, continuing conflict in eastern Congo and deep mistrust within local communities are further obstructing the health response.
In Rwampara, another heavily affected city in Ituri province, dozens of employees at an Ebola treatment center went on strike Monday over unpaid salaries and bonuses. They agreed Tuesday to return to work on the condition that the government pay them within 72 hours.
Several workers told The Associated Press they had not been paid since joining the response when the outbreak began.
The lack of approved vaccines or treatments for the Bundibugyo virus presents another major obstacle. By contrast, a vaccine is available for the more common Zaire virus, which caused most of Congo’s previous 16 Ebola outbreaks.
Enrollment recently began in Ituri for a closely watched study of two potential Ebola treatments.
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