BUNIA, Congo — The number of confirmed Ebola cases in Congo has reached 2,011, of which 754 have died, according to government data released in the evening. Officials say this is the fastest growing outbreak on record.
Medical workers at Bunia General Hospital, the region’s largest medical center, went on strike on Wednesday, becoming the latest group to quit their jobs in the epicenter over payment issues. Medical professionals and other front-line workers barricaded hospital entrances, saying they were not being compensated for working in difficult conditions.
The World Health Organization has announced that more than 100 healthcare workers have been infected since the outbreak began.
The Central African country has been battling an Ebola outbreak caused by the rare Bundibugyo virus since May 15. A total of 753 patients remain in isolation or in hospital, and 366 have recovered so far, according to data from the Congolese Ministry of Health. Contact tracing remains a challenge, with contact coverage still at 67%.
Despite the scaled-up response, the outbreak continues to spread faster than health officials can track it. The WHO said on Tuesday that at least 80% of new infections are coming from unknown transmission routes.
Most of the new Ebola cases in eastern Congo are due to unknown chains, as outbreaks are outpacing responses.
A key challenge is that health authorities have yet to identify case zero in the outbreak, while armed conflict and mining-related displacement have made it difficult to trace thousands of people who came into contact with infected people.
Many of the newly reported deaths are people who died in the community without ever reaching a health facility or receiving treatment, WHO health emergencies chief Dr. Chikwe Ihekwazu said on Tuesday after returning from Bunia in Ituri province, the worst-hit region of the outbreak.
The medical response is hampered by a lack of funding, attacks on health centers, ongoing conflict in eastern Congo, and mistrust among local communities.
Dozens of health workers at an Ebola treatment center in Rwanpara, another hard-hit city in Ituri province, went on strike on Monday over unpaid salaries and bonuses. On Tuesday, they agreed to resume work on the condition that the government pays wages within 72 hours.
Some told The Associated Press they had not received a paycheck since starting work after the outbreak began.
Control efforts are also challenged by the lack of an approved vaccine or treatment for Bundibugyo virus, unlike the more common Zaire virus, for which a vaccine exists and has been responsible for most of Congo’s past 16 outbreaks.
Ituri recently opened enrollment for a long-awaited study on two possible Ebola treatments.
