The number of Ebola cases in the DR Congo outbreak has now topped 3,000 while the death toll stands at over 1,000 people – as strikes over unpaid wages hamper treatment efforts
Health workers have gone on strike as the number of confirmed Ebola cases in the devastating DR Congo outbreak officially passed 3,000.
This year’s Ebola outbreak in the Central African nation has so far killed over 1,000 people, reaching the grim milestone nearly three times faster than the 2014-2016 epidemic, which is considered the worst on record.
Government statistics released yesterday put the number of confirmed cases at 3,075, with 755 patients currently hospitalised or in isolation. The death toll stands at 1,354.
It came as 100 health workers at an Ebola treatment centre in the epicentre of the outbreak went on strike over unpaid performance bonuses.
Doctors, nurses and security at The Elikya Ebola Treatment Centre in Bunia, Ituri province, staged a walkout and protested outside the centre on Saturday afternoon.
In a statement issued on Friday, staff said they would continue their industrial action until “concrete solutions” were found to resolve “two months of unpaid performance bonuses.”
Martin Bolombi, one of the health workers on strike, said: “We need to be paid, because in the meantime the disease is spreading at the treatment centre.
“I’ve already had five people die who are still inside there. A solution must be found for us”.
Dr. Adelard Lufungula, operations manager for the Ebola response, said yesterday the payment issue is “being resolved” with workers now paid via mobile payments instead of cash, and that the backlog “should be cleared” in the coming days.
Last week, healthcare workers at Bunia General Hospital – the largest hospital in the region – went on strike over unpaid wages. Staff said they have not received any wages since the beginning of the outbreak in May 2026.
The virus has now spread across five of DR Congo’s eastern provinces, including Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu, Haut-Uélé, and Tshopo.
This current outbreak is being driven by the rare Bundibugyo ebolavirus strain, which has a fatality rate of approximately 40% and does not have a fully approved vaccine or treatment.
DR Congo’s Prime Minister Judith Suminwa Tuluka said on Friday she was hopeful new treatments could reach the clinical trial stage over the coming months.
Clinical trials for experimental vaccines targeting the Bundibugyo strain are already underway, including human trials led by the University of Oxford.
