Efforts to contain the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo have suffered a fresh setback after frontline response workers went on strike over unpaid wages, according to Channels Television. The disease, which continues to spread across the affected regions, has now claimed more than 500 lives and infected more than 1,500 people since the outbreak was declared in May, placing the country's health system under severe strain.
The dispute has hit the Rwampara Ebola treatment centre in Ituri Province particularly hard, where some members of the response team have stopped work in protest. Vehicles that would normally be used to move teams and patients stand idle, and a burned tyre at the entrance marks the site of the protest, a visible sign of the frustration that has built up among those on the front line of the response.
According to the striking workers, they have not been paid since the outbreak began on 15 May, despite carrying out some of the most dangerous and demanding tasks in the entire response. Those affected include surveillance teams, burial teams and other health professionals who have been working long hours in hazardous conditions to trace cases and safely bury the dead.
The workers say the failure to pay them has left them in serious difficulty, with many no longer knowing how to cope. One member of the response team said they had started work on 15 May but had still not received any payment, describing how the situation had upended their lives even as they continued to shoulder the burden of the outbreak on behalf of their communities.
Several of those on strike described gruelling shifts that stretched from early morning until six in the evening, and sometimes as late as ten at night, spent constantly burying victims of the disease. Despite the risks and the exhausting workload, they said, they had gone without wages, a grievance that finally pushed them to halt their work and stage the protest.
The strikers warned that the dispute is affecting not only their own families but also the wider public health response. With key activities such as surveillance and safe burials disrupted, health officials fear the walkout could allow the outbreak to spread further at a moment when containment efforts are already stretched thin across Ituri and neighbouring areas.
Some of the workers said they had also faced hostility from residents while trying to contain a disease that remains surrounded by fear and misinformation, adding another layer of danger to their work. Their protest has drawn attention to the fragile conditions underpinning the response, and to the risk that unpaid and demoralised staff could further weaken the fight against Ebola.