As the world’s fastest Ebola outbreak spreads, more health care workers strike at facilities in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The current Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo is still spreading, and new challenges are emerging even as work begins on a study of two badly needed treatments for a type of Ebola that currently has none.
The Bundibugyo strain is having a major impact on the ability to slow the spread of the virus. The more common Zaire strain is better-known, making it easier to treat.
Over 2,000 cases, including over 750 deaths, have been confirmed. Now cases are suspected in two more provinces, including one of Congo’s largest cities, Kisangani, as responders struggle to understand how far Ebola has spread, according to The Associated Press. Eighty percent of new cases are emerging from unknown chains of transmission, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Tuesday. The outbreak’s origin is still not known.
Ebola is highly contagious and can be transmitted to people from wild animals. It spreads in the human population through contact with bodily fluids such as vomit, blood or semen, and with contaminated surfaces and materials such as bedding and clothing. –The Associated Press
US Bans Americans From Leaving DR Congo As Ebola Spreads
The strike started as deaths from this outbreak approached 600.
Ebola Workers Begin Unofficial Strike As Deaths Approach 600
The unrest among local Ebola responders comes as they claim weeks of risky crisis work and little or no pay from the Congolese government. On Monday, staff at a treatment center in Ituri province, the outbreak’s epicenter, closed the facility and blocked access. Striking staffers included epidemiologists, case investigators, drivers, and gravediggers. They later agreed to resume work under the condition that the government pays them within 72 hours of the work being completed.
Current Ebola Outbreak Could Become The Largest on Record
This outbreak, which started in May, has not yet reached its peak.