Dozens of health workers at an Ebola treatment Centre in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have gone on strike on Monday, July 13, over unpaid salaries and bonuses, creating fresh challenges in efforts to contain the country’s fastest-growing Ebola outbreak recorded in Africa.
The workers at Rwampara General Hospital in Ituri province, the epicentre of the outbreak, include epidemiologists, case investigators, drivers and gravediggers. They say they have not received payments from the Congolese authorities for two months.
The protest led to the closure of the hospital and a blockade of the road leading to the facility, with some workers burning tyres during the demonstration. “We don’t know how it is possible to not have been paid for two months. We don’t want to give up the job,” health workerBahati Claude said.
DR Congo has been battling an outbreak of the rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola since May. The government officially declared the outbreak on 15 May 2026 after the virus had circulated for weeks without detection, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).