Ebola death toll in Congo tops 4,000 in fastest-growing outbreak of the disease on record

Bunia, Congo — Congo’s Ebola outbreak has now recorded more than 4,000 deaths, authorities said as they struggle to contain the spread of the virus.

The latest figures were released by the health ministry on Thursday. They show that 4,018 people have died from among 8,300 confirmed cases in what has become the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak in history.

More than 2,000 patients have recovered from the disease, the Reuters news agency notes.

Congo announced an outbreak on May 15, caused by the rare Bundibugyo virus, which has no known treatment or vaccine.

Some health workers gathered in Bunia, the capital of northeastern Ituri province, the heart of the outbreak, to demand payment for owed wages. They were quickly dispersed by officials. The protesting workers included surveillance team members, who identify people exposed to infected patients. They waved placards saying, “No money, no data!” and “No payment for months.”

Front-line workers have gone on several strikes since the start of the outbreak to demand payment, further hampering efforts to contain the disease.

An aid worker with Médecins Sans Frontières, known in English as Doctors Without Borders, was infected with Ebola while working in Congo, the group said in a statement.

The worker arrived late Thursday night after being flown to the Netherlands on a special medical flight and was transferred to a high-level isolation unit, the Leiden University Medical Center said in a statement.

“The human cost of this crisis is unprecedented in the DRC, with communities facing the largest Ebola disease outbreak ever recorded in the country,” MSF said.

More than 50 health workers have died after contracting the virus. 

The World Health Organization has recently raised the alarm regarding the rapid geographical spread of the virus into new health zones, stretching limited resources.

The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in its latest news conference that the number of confirmed cases is falling, but that could be attributed to insecurity and challenges in getting communities to cooperate in some of the hotspots.

A Congolese politician was attacked and beaten to death earlier this week for defending government measures in dealing with the outbreak, highlighting tensions that have stretched both the health community and local resources.

The attack on Marie-Célestin Karondwa, a local official with Congo’s ruling Union for Democracy and Social Progress party, took place on Sunday at his home in Butembo, an Ebola hotspot in the eastern North Kivu province. His house was set on fire afterward and he died at a hospital of his injuries.

Widespread mistrust of health workers and the authorities has hampered efforts to slow the Central African nation’s 17th Ebola outbreak.

Authorities last month launched a village-centered approach but those efforts are battling beliefs by some residents who dismiss Ebola as a hoax. There is also deep distrust in the country’s government for reasons ranging from how it managed past Ebola outbreaks to chronic corruption.