More than 1,800 people have died from Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and medical workers have gone on strike
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the death toll from the Ebola outbreak has exceeded 1,800. Amid the epidemic, healthcare workers fighting the virus have staged protests over unpaid wages.
According to official data, 3,973 cases of the disease have been confirmed in the country, of which 1,801 have been fatal. The highest number of cases has been recorded in Ituri Province, where most patients are currently in isolation.
Healthcare workers say they have not received their salaries or bonuses since the epidemic was declared in mid-May. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has called on the authorities to urgently support healthcare workers.
The organization “Doctors Without Borders” warns that the outbreak is spreading at an unprecedented rate, and efforts to combat it are being hampered by armed conflict and the inaccessibility of remote areas.
Source: Associated Press.
Earlier reports indicated that the 17th Ebola outbreak had been recorded in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which has already claimed the lives of 80 people. This time, the disease was likely caused by the little-studied Bundibugyo ebolavirus strain, rather than the more common Zaire ebolavirus.
Ethiopia has recorded its first outbreak of the Marburg virus, which is clinically similar to Ebola. The pathogen is capable of spreading rapidly, but there are no vaccines against it.
