DR Congo Ebola health workers threaten strike over unpaid wages

Health workers responding to an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo threatened to strike over unpaid wages, while the World Health Organization warned that the epidemic could be much larger than official figures show.

The official toll published on Tuesday said the highly infectious virus had killed more than 700 people among nearly 2,000 confirmed infections since the outbreak was declared on May 15. The WHO said the outbreak could be two to four times the official estimates.

At the Ebola treatment centre in Rwampara, in Ituri province, health workers burned tyres in protest on Monday and temporarily blocked access to the centre. Staff there said they had not been paid since the virus was detected. Doctor Pascal Bahoya said workers had continued treating Ebola patients since May 15 because of their professional duty, but were working in very difficult conditions.

Doctors at the centre said they had given authorities a 48-hour ultimatum to pay salaries and bonuses. They said they would begin a full strike without minimum service if the payments were not made.

Health Minister Samuel Roger Kamba acknowledged payment delays during a visit to Ituri on Thursday and said the organisational problem behind the delays would be resolved.

The national public health institute, INSP, said at least 112 healthcare workers had been infected and 35 had died. The outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, for which the source said there is no vaccine or specific treatment available. A clinical trial involving two treatments is under way.

The virus has spread from Ituri to North Kivu, South Kivu, Tshopo and Haut-Uele provinces in eastern DR Congo. Ituri borders South Sudan and Uganda, which has reported 20 cases, including two deaths. As of July 12, 727 patients were being treated in Ebola treatment centres in affected areas.

WHO emergencies director Chikwe Ihekweazu said the UN health agency's modelling indicated that the outbreak was at least two to four times the number of detected cases. Humanitarian workers on the ground also said they believed the official figures were underestimates.

The source said Ebola spreads through direct contact with bodily fluids and can cause severe bleeding and organ failure. It also said eastern DR Congo has faced conflict for three decades, with many people displaced into camps that the United Nations says lack clean water and sanitation. The international community has raised $1.5 billion to support the response in DR Congo, where the healthcare system is chronically underfunded.