Ebola deaths in Congo top 500 as health workers threaten strike

The Ministry of Public Health, Hygiene and Social Welfare put Congo’s Ebola toll at 1,561 confirmed cases and 506 deaths as a threatened strike by health workers risks weakening surveillance and treatment in the country’s northeast, where Bundibugyo virus disease continues to spread. The World Health Organization’s latest verified update listed 1,460 confirmed cases and 452 deaths in the Democratic Republic of the Congo as of July 1.

The outbreak first came into view on May 5, when the World Health Organization was alerted to a high-mortality illness in Mongbwalu Health Zone in Ituri Province, including deaths among health workers. Congo and Uganda declared an Ebola outbreak on May 15 after laboratory confirmation of Bundibugyo virus disease in both countries, and on May 17 the WHO director-general determined that the event constituted a public health emergency of international concern. Bundibugyo virus disease has no licensed vaccine or specific treatment.

By July 2, Uganda had reported 20 confirmed cases, including two deaths, plus one probable case that died. On June 24, French authorities notified WHO of a laboratory-confirmed case in a medical doctor returning from the DRC.

WHO and partners have expanded surveillance, contact tracing, clinical preparedness, supply delivery, and cross-border coordination as the outbreak has spread across the frontier. Regional meetings and community outreach have been stepped up in affected areas. Four nurses in Bunia were discharged on May 31.