Health care workers helping treat and control the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo are threatening to strike as the hemorrhagic disease continues to spread.  Yesterday, healthcare workers in Ituri issued a 24-hour notice of an impending strike.

Those working on the Ebola frontlines said that the working conditions were too poor to continue. They reported unpaid benefits, low wages, and inadequate supplies since the outbreak officially began in May.

The DRC Ministry of Health has now confirmed 1,561 cases in the outbreak, with the epicenter in Ituri province and significant transmission in North and South Kivu provinces, as well. Thirty-three of the DRC cases are new, as are 14 of the deaths. Neighboring Uganda has 20 cases, two of them fatal. –University of Minnesota’s CIDRAP (Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy)

The strike is threatening to further complicate already difficult tracking and tracing procedures. But it could also negatively impact the execution of two experimental therapies that were launched this past week in the DRC. Enrollees will be given the antiviral drug remdesivir, the experimental antibody treatment MBP134, or a combination of both, with survival rates calculated during a 28-day follow-up period.

This comes as the deaths have surpassed 500. More are likely to be reported in the coming days, too, as healthcare officials are having trouble handling the Bundibugyo strain, the current strain of the virus spreading in an active conflict zone.

Ebola Deaths Surpass 500

The trial of two new experimental therapies provided some much-needed hope to the infected regions of DR Congo and Uganda. Additonally, the World Health Organization (WHO) also added the first diagnostic test for the Ebola Bundibugyo virus to its emergency use listing. The test can quickly confirm infection in blood samples, which will help those attempting to track the spread of the virus to know much sooner if someone is infected.

Despite increased testing, contact tracing remains difficult in the region, and a patient zero has still not been identified in this outbreak.

All of these positive steps are being trampled under the weight of a possible strike.