More health workers on strike as confirmed Ebola cases in Congo top 2,000

Confirmed cases of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have reached 2,011 (Moses Sawasawa/AP)

Confirmed cases of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have reached 2,011, including 754 deaths, according to data, in what authorities say is the fastest-growing outbreak on record.

A total of 753 patients remain in isolation or in hospital, while 366 have recovered, according to the Ministry of Health.

Contact tracing remains a challenge, with coverage of those exposed still at 67%.

Rubble set on fire as health workers involved in Congo’s Ebola response go on strike as they protest over payment issues (Constant Same Bagalwa/AP)

The Central African nation has been battling the Ebola outbreak caused by the rare Bundibugyo virus since May 15.

Health workers at Bunia General Hospital went on strike on Wednesday, the latest group to have walked off the job at the epicentre over payment issues.

Health professionals and other frontline workers barricaded the entrance of the hospital, saying they have not received any compensation despite working under difficult conditions.

Two months since the onset, the outbreak continues to spread faster than health officials can track despite an expanding response. At least 80% of new cases are emerging from unknown chains of transmission, the World Health Organisation said on Tuesday.

A key challenge is that health authorities have yet to identify the outbreak’s patient zero, while displacements from armed conflict and mining-related movements have made it difficult to trace thousands who have come in contact with infected individuals.

Workers at an Ebola treatment centre go on strike over unpaid salaries (Prosper Heri Ngorora/AP)

Many of the newly reported deaths are people who died in their communities without reaching a health facility and without receiving care, Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, the WHO health emergencies chief, said on Tuesday after returning from Bunia in Ituri, the worst-hit province in the outbreak.

Health workers are also going on strike in different parts of Ituri. Some told the Associated Press they have not received any payment since they started work at the start of the outbreak.

Response efforts have also been challenged by the 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.

Enrolment for a highly anticipated study of two possible Ebola treatments recently started in Ituri.