DR Congo Ebola outbreak surpasses 3,000 cases

The Democratic Republic of Congo’s 17th Ebola epidemic has recorded 3,075 laboratory‑confirmed infections and 1,354 deaths, a case‑fatality ratio of about 44 %. The virus, the rare Bundibugyo strain, is circulating in five eastern provinces – Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu, Haut‑Uélé and Tshopo – with 755 patients currently in isolation or hospital care and 556 recoveries.

Health‑care staff at the Elikya Ebola Treatment Centre in Bunia staged a strike over two months of unpaid performance bonuses, halting care for dozens of patients. "We need to be paid, because in the meantime the disease is spreading at the treatment centre," said striking worker Martin Bolombi. The strike has disrupted treatment and contact‑tracing efforts. No approved vaccine or therapy exists for the Bundibugyo strain, though experimental vaccines are in early clinical trials and the government hopes new treatments could be available within months.