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Congo's Ebola crisis deepens with unpaid workers on strike
AP News • • health
Key Points:
- Dozens of workers at an Ebola treatment center in northeast Congo went on strike over unpaid salaries and bonuses, disrupting efforts to control the continent's fastest-growing Ebola outbreak.
- The outbreak, caused by the rare Bundibugyo virus, has spread to multiple provinces since being declared on May 15, with 1,926 confirmed cases and 702 deaths reported.
- Striking staff at Rwampara General Hospital in Ituri province include epidemiologists, case investigators, drivers, and gravediggers who have not been paid for two months, leading to hospital closure and road blockades.
- Congolese health authorities are reviewing payroll lists to ensure payments reach the correct workers, amid concerns about inaccurate names being added to the payment roster.
- WHO reported that a second U.S. citizen infected with Ebola in eastern Congo was transferred to Germany for treatment, following the earlier transfer of an American doctor.
