Dozens at an Ebola treatment center in Congo go on strike over unpaid salaries

BUNIA, Congo —

Dozens of people working at an Ebola treatment center in northeast Congo went on strike Monday over unpaid salaries and bonuses.

The striking staff at Rwampara General Hospital in Ituri province includes epidemiologists, case investigators, drivers and gravediggers who say they have not been paid by the Congolese authorities.

The hospital was shuttered by protesting staff, who blocked the road leading to the medical facility.

Some of the center’s health workers and those working on the ground began striking last week, accusing authorities of failing to pay their wages since the outbreak began in May.

The Congolese authorities declared a fresh Ebola outbreak on May 15, after the disease had been transmitting for weeks without official detection, according to the World Health Organization. The latest outbreak is caused by the rare Bundibugyo virus, which has no approved vaccine or treatment.

There are 1,926 confirmed cases so far in the country, including 702 deaths, according to Congolese authorities.

Last week, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said that the outbreak is the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak ever recorded on the continent.