{"id":139182,"date":"2026-07-15T06:28:54","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T12:28:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/more-health-workers-strike-as-ebola-cases-in-congo-exceed-2000-including-754-deaths\/"},"modified":"2026-07-15T06:28:54","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T12:28:54","slug":"more-health-workers-strike-as-ebola-cases-in-congo-exceed-2000-including-754-deaths","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/more-health-workers-strike-as-ebola-cases-in-congo-exceed-2000-including-754-deaths\/","title":{"rendered":"More health workers strike as Ebola cases\u00a0in Congo exceed 2,000, including 754 deaths"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Workers
Workers at an Ebola treatment center go on strike over unpaid salaries and bonuses at Rwampara General Hospital, in Ituri, northeastern Congo, Monday, July 13, 2026, (AP Photo\/Prosper Heri Ngorora)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Prosper Heri Ngorora)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

BUNIA, Congo (AP) \u2014 The number of confirmed cases of Ebola<\/a> in Congo has reached 2,011, including 754 deaths, according to government data released overnight in what authorities say is the fastest-growing outbreak on record.<\/p>\n

Health workers at Bunia General Hospital, the region’s largest medical center, went on strike on Wednesday and are the latest group to have walked off their job<\/a> at the epicenter over payment issues. Health professionals and other front line workers barricaded the entrance of the hospital, claiming they have not received any compensation despite working under difficult conditions.<\/p>\n

The World Health Organization says more than 100 healthcare workers have been infected since the beginning of the outbreak.<\/p>\n

The Central African nation has been battling the Ebola outbreak caused by the rare Bundibugyo virus<\/a> since May 15. A total of 753 patients remain in isolation or in hospitals, while 366 have so far recovered, according to data from Congo\u2019s Ministry of Health. Contact tracing remains a challenge, with coverage of those exposed still at 67%.<\/p>\n

The outbreak continues to spread faster than health officials can track<\/a> despite an expanding response. At least 80% of new cases are emerging from unknown chains of transmission, the WHO said Tuesday.<\/p>\n

A key challenge is that health authorities have yet to identify the outbreak\u2019s patient zero<\/a>, while displacements from armed conflict as well as mining-related movements have made it difficult to trace thousands who have come in contact with infected individuals.<\/p>\n

Many of the newly reported deaths are those who died in their communities without ever reaching a health facility and without receiving care, Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, the WHO health emergencies chief, said Tuesday after returning from Bunia in Ituri, the worst-hit province in the outbreak.<\/p>\n

The health response is being hampered by a funding gap, attacks on health centers, an ongoing conflict in eastern Congo, and mistrust among local communities.<\/p>\n

Dozens of healthcare workers at an Ebola virus treatment center<\/a> in Rwampara, another hard hit city in the Ituri province, went on strike over unpaid salaries<\/a> and bonuses on Monday. On Tuesday, they agreed to resume work under the condition that the government pays them within 72 hours.<\/p>\n

Some have told The Associated Press they have not received any payment since they started work at the onset of the outbreak.<\/p>\n

Response efforts have also been challenged by the lack of approved vaccines or treatments for the Bundibugyo virus, unlike the more common Zaire virus for which there is a vaccine and which was responsible for most of Congo\u2019s past 16 outbreaks of the disease<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Enrollment for a highly anticipated study<\/a> of two possible Ebola treatments recently started in Ituri.<\/p>\n

\"Health
Health workers interact at the Evangelical Medical Center, in Bunia, eastern Congo, Friday, July 3, 2026, where Ebola clinical trials are scheduled to take place. (AP Photo\/Dirole Lotsima Dieudonne)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Dirole Lotsima Dieudonne)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Health
Health workers walk at the Evangelical Medical Center, in Bunia, eastern Congo, Friday, July 3, 2026, where Ebola clinical trials are scheduled to take place. (AP Photo\/Dirole Lotsima Dieudonne)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Dirole Lotsima Dieudonne)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Workers at an Ebola treatment center go on strike over unpaid salaries and bonuses at Rwampara General Hospital, in Ituri, northeastern Congo, Monday, July 13, 2026, (AP Photo\/Prosper Heri Ngorora)(AP Photo\/Prosper Heri Ngorora) BUNIA, Congo (AP) \u2014 The number of confirmed cases of Ebola in Congo has reached 2,011, including 754 deaths, according to government […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":139183,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5734],"tags":[],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-139182","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-associated-press"],"acf":[],"author_name":"Website Administrator","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139182","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=139182"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139182\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/139183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=139182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=139182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=139182"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=139182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}