Previously unaffected Congo regions report suspected Ebola cases as oubtbreak keeps spreading faster than the response, while healthcare workers are walking off their jobs amid payment delays.
New suspected cases of Ebola have been reported in parts of Congo that were previously unaffected, the government said, as the death toll in the country's latest Ebola outbreak reached 600. The total number of confirmed cases across the country has now reached 1,759.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
The Congolese government's latest report said two new cases were suspected in Kisangani, in Tshopo province, in the north-central part of the country, which borders Ituri province, where the outbreak started and where cases had not previously been recorded.
One of the two suspected cases was linked to the Nia-Nia health zone in Ituri, while the other case “has no apparent geographical connection to known outbreaks,” according to the report.
The virus continues to spread, fuelled by population movements and insecurity, while some treatment centres are at near-full capacity, according to Anne Ancia, WHO’s representative in Congo.
Healthcare workers protest salary delays
Moreover, some healthcare workers in Ituri say they haven’t been paid since the outbreak was declared.
“Since the Ebola virus disease outbreak was declared, we've been demanding payment for our work,” Biensi Kano, a member of the epidemiological surveillance committee in Ituri’s capital, Bunia, told AP.
The non-payment of benefits “exposes us and our families to significant socio-economic difficulties and seriously undermines our living conditions,” said Kano.
Healthcare staff also alleged they were working with limited equipment and were being treated unfairly by authorities as well as response teams.
Congo’s government did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the situation. Officials in Ituri, however, said they’ve met with the workers and their concerns are being addressed.
“The fact that Bunia airport is closed is hampering the very implementation of the response, particularly certain aspects of the flow of funds. This is one of the reasons that may account for the delay in payment,” Akilimali Pierre, incident manager at Congo’s National Institute of Public Health, told AP.
Health workers face other challenges as well, including attacks from angry residents and scepticism about the virus.
The Congolese authorities declared the Ebola outbreak on 15 May, after the disease had been transmitted for weeks without official detection, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
The latest outbreak is caused by the rare Bundibugyo virus, which has no approved vaccine or treatment. Last week, researchers launched a highly anticipated clinical trial in the hope of finding a treatment for the virus.
