{"success":true,"data":{"id":"657ca7e0-b71a-4d68-8038-42723a36269d","title":"More health workers strike as Ebola cases in Congo near 3,000, including over 1,300 deaths","summary":"trending now in World News More health workers strike as Ebola cases in Congo near 3,000, including over 1,300 deaths Associated Press BUNIA, Congo — Health workers at an Ebola treatment center in eastern Congo went on strike on Saturday, demanding their pay.","content":"#### trending now in World News\n\n# More health workers strike as Ebola cases in Congo near 3,000, including over 1,300 deaths\n\nAssociated Press\n\nBUNIA, Congo — Health workers at an Ebola treatment center in eastern Congo went on strike on Saturday, demanding their pay. The walkout disrupted care for patients in the epicenter of the country’s rapidly growing outbreak.\n\nThe [number of confirmed cases of Ebola in Congo](https://nypost.com/2026/07/22/world-news/congos-ebola-outbreak-has-killed-nearly-1000-people/) has reached 2,973, including 1,309 deaths, according to government data released on Friday in what authorities say is the fastest-growing outbreak on record.\n\nThe Elikya Ebola Treatment Center in Bunia, Ituri province, came to a standstill after [doctors, nurses and security staff stopped work](https://nypost.com/2026/07/15/world-news/health-workers-strike-as-ebola-cases-in-congo-exceed-2000-including-754-deaths/).\n\nAbout a hundred health workers protested outside the treatment center on Saturday. They said the [unpaid bonuses were undermining morale and disrupting patient care](https://nypost.com/2026/07/08/world-news/some-health-workers-in-congos-ebola-outbreak-go-on-strike-over-pay-issues-as-deaths-near-600/), and called on Congolese authorities to resolve the backpay so they could resume their work.\n\nRubble set on fire as health and frontline workers protest at the Elikya Ebola Treatment Center in Bunia, Congo, on July 25, 2026. AP Photo/Constant Same Bagalwa\n\n“We need to be paid, because in the meantime the disease is spreading at the treatment center,” Martin Bolombi, one of the health workers on strike, said.\n\n“I’ve already had five people die who are still inside there. A solution must be found for us,” he added.\n\nIn a statement issued Friday, staff said they had unanimously voted to strike until “concrete solutions” were found to resolve “two months of unpaid performance bonuses.”\n\n## Explore More\n\nThe strike comes a day after Congo’s Prime Minister Judith Suminwa came to Ituri, touring major treatment hubs in Rwampara and Mongbwalu, to assess the outbreak response. During her visit in Mongbwalu, she faced urgent demands from [healthcare personnel protesting payment issues](https://nypost.com/2026/06/07/world-news/health-workers-at-the-epicenter-of-congos-ebola-outbreak-labor-with-little-pay-or-rest/).\n\nDr. Adelard Lufungula, operations manager for the Ebola response, said Saturday the payment issue is “being resolved,” with workers now paid via mobile money instead of cash, and that the backlog “should be cleared” in the coming days.\n\nStaff prepares to bury the coffin of an Ebola victim in Bunia, Ituri province, Democratic Republic of Congo, on July 22, 2026. DIEUDONNE DIROLE/EPA/Shutterstock\n\nResidents watch as health workers carry a coffin of an Ebola victim at the Ebola Treatment Center at Bunia General Hospital in Ituri, Congo, on July 22, 2026. AP Photo/Dirole Lotsima Dieudonne\n\nLast week, health workers at Bunia General Hospital, the region’s largest medical center,had already gone on strike over unpaid salaries. Some told The Associated Press they had not received any payment since they started work at the onset of the outbreak.\n\nThe World Health Organization says more than 100 [healthcare workers have been infected](https://nypost.com/2026/06/24/world-news/french-health-ministry-confirms-doctor-who-worked-in-congo-infected-with-ebola-virus/) since the beginning of the outbreak.\n\n**Follow The Post’s coverage on the latest Ebola outbreak**\n\nThe Central African nation has been battling the Ebola outbreak caused by the [rare Bundibugyo virus](https://nypost.com/2026/05/25/health/what-is-the-ebola-bundibugyo-variant-will-it-come-to-the-us/)since May 15. A total of 766 patients remain in isolation or in hospitals, while 540 have recovered so far, according to data from Congo’s Ministry of Health.\n\nThe eastern province of Ituri accounts for nearly 90% of confirmed cases.\n\nThe outbreak continues to spread faster than health officials can track despite an expanding response. A key challenge is that patient zero has yet to be identified in the outbreak, while displacement from armed conflict and illegal mining in the region have made it [difficult to trace thousands](https://nypost.com/2026/07/10/world-news/congo-ebola-outbreak-still-spreading-largely-undetected/) who have come in contact with infected individuals.\n\nA drone view of displaced people from the Kigonze camp attending the burial of suspected Ebola victims at Nyamurongo Cemetery, one month after an outbreak was declared, in Bunia, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, on June 18, 2026. REUTERS\n\nStaff members shovel earth into the grave of an Ebola victim during a burial ceremony in Bunia, Ituri province, Democratic Republic of Congo, on July 22, 2026. DIEUDONNE DIROLE/EPA/Shutterstock\n\nThe response is also [hampered by a funding gap](https://nypost.com/2026/06/25/world-news/trump-seeks-more-than-1-4b-in-ebola-funding-from-congress/), attacks on health centers, an ongoing conflict in eastern Congo and mistrust among local communities.\n\nThere is also a 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’s past 16 outbreaks of the disease.\n\nEnrollment in a highly anticipated study of two possible [Ebola treatments recently started](https://nypost.com/2026/07/06/world-news/residents-in-eastern-congo-cling-to-hope-as-a-new-ebola-treatment-trial-begins/) in Ituri.\n\nHealth workers disinfect an ambulance at the Ebola Treatment Center at Bunia General Hospital in Ituri, Democratic Republic of Congo, on July 22, 2026. AP Photo/Dirole Lotsima Dieudonne\n\nWHO says the global risk of the outbreak spreading outside Central Africa is low, noting that Ebola spreads through direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person rather than through the air, making it much harder to spread than respiratory viruses\n\n_Associated Press writer Saleh Mwanamilongo in Bonn, Germany, contributed to this report._\n\nFiled under\n\n#### Trending Now  in World News\n\n*   [![Image 21: Crazed Paris terrorist cuts down 3 women, then screams, ‘Allah commanded me’](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/135663029.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=260&h=174&crop=1)](https://nypost.com/2026/07/27/world-news/crazed-paris-terrorist-cuts-down-3-women-then-screams-allah-commanded-me/)This story has been shared 18,020 times.18,020   ### [Crazed Paris terrorist cuts down 3 women, then screams, ‘Allah commanded me’](https://nypost.com/2026/07/27/world-news/crazed-paris-terrorist-cuts-down-3-women-then-screams-allah-commanded-me/) \n*   [![Image 22: US physical therapist disappears in the Caribbean as husband pleads for ‘safe return’](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/liz-waddell.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&1785026850&w=260&h=174&crop=1)](https://nypost.com/2026/07/26/world-news/north-carolina-woman-elizabeth-waddell-disappears-in-caribbean-after-grenada-beach-trip/)This story has been shared 9,343 times.9,343   ### [US physical therapist disappears in the Caribbean as husband pleads for ‘safe return’](https://nypost.com/2026/07/26/world-news/north-carolina-woman-elizabeth-waddell-disappears-in-caribbean-after-grenada-beach-trip/) \n*   [![Image 23: American and wife who recently ‘self-deported’ from US killed by Venezuela earthquake](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/ru6b6t7locoxvxedvn1v1bdvdyp62qj8pbbezx67odsogdr-135426196.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=260&h=174&crop=1)](https://nypost.com/2026/07/25/world-news/body-of-american-whose-wife-self-deported-to-venezuela-found-in-rubble/)This story has been shared 8,331 times.8,331   ### [American and wife who recently ‘self-deported’ from US killed by Venezuela earthquake](https://nypost.com/2026/07/25/world-news/body-of-american-whose-wife-self-deported-to-venezuela-found-in-rubble/) \n*   [![Image 24: Authorities identify cause of young Saudi prince’s sudden death at London hotel](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/Comp_-34.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=260&h=174&crop=1)](https://nypost.com/2026/07/25/world-news/saudi-prince-died-after-ingesting-lethal-cocktail-of-drugs-in-london-hotel-inquest-hears/)This story has been shared 5,222 times.5,222   ### [Authorities identify cause of young Saudi prince’s sudden death at London hotel](https://nypost.com/2026/07/25/world-news/saudi-prince-died-after-ingesting-lethal-cocktail-of-drugs-in-london-hotel-inquest-hears/) \n\n#### Listen Now\n\n## Now on Page Six\n\n#### Video\n\nYou are viewing**1** of **6**images Previous Image Next Image\n\n## More Stories\n\n### Page Six\n\n### Decider\n\n### NYPost","source_name":"New York Post","source_url":"https://nypost.com/2026/07/27/world-news/more-health-workers-strike-as-ebola-cases-in-congo-near-3000-including-over-1300-deaths/","url":"https://nypost.com/2026/07/27/world-news/more-health-workers-strike-as-ebola-cases-in-congo-near-3000-including-over-1300-deaths/","author":"Associated Press","author_name":"Associated Press","published_at":"2026-07-27T16:39:16.000Z","publication_date":"2026-07-27T16:39:16.000Z","image_url":"https://nypost.com/2026/07/27/world-news/more-health-workers-strike-as-ebola-cases-in-congo-near-3000-including-over-1300-deaths/","category":"health","topic":"health","tags":[],"political_bias":null,"bias_score":null,"confidence_score":null,"credibility_score":null,"factual_quality":null,"reading_time":5,"word_count":976,"view_count":0,"breaking":false,"breaking_news":false,"ai_analysis":null,"fact_check_status":"unverified","archive_status":"hot","language":null}}