The number of confirmed Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has sarpassed the 3,000 mark, this is according to official figures released on Saturday, July 26.
The DRC’s health authorities say that the latest Bundibugyo virus has now recorded a total of 3,075 confirmed cases, 1,354 deaths and 556 recoveries. A total of 755 patients are either hospitalised or in isolation, with the deadly outbreak affecting five provinces; Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu, Haut-Uele and Tshopo.
This comes even as health workers at a treatment centre in the outbreak’s epicentre went on strike over unpaid bonuses. About 100 workers, consisting of doctors, nurses and security staff, downed their tools at the Elikya Ebola Treatment Centre in Bunia, the capital of eastern Ituri Province, and protested outside the facility.
“We need to be paid, because in the meantime the disease is spreading at the treatment center,” Martin Bolombi, one of the striking health workers, told journalists. “I’ve already had five people die who are still inside there. A solution must be found for us.”
According to Dr. Adelard Lufungula, the operations manager for the Ebola response, the issue affecting the said facility was being resolved, with workers now being paid via mobile money instead of cash.
“The backlog should be cleared in the coming days,” he said.
Health workers at Bunia General Hospital also went on strike last week over unpaid salaries, with some claiming they had received no payment since joining the outbreak response.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), more than 100 health workers have been infected since the outbreak began.
Prime Minister Judith Suminwa Tuluka on Friday, July 25 expressed hope that a vaccine and treatment against the Bundibugyo ebolavirus strain could be available “within two to four months”.
The University of Oxford’s Oxford Vaccine Group this week launched the world’s first Phase I clinical trial, BD-Ebov, of a vaccine against Bundibugyo ebolavirus (BDBV).
Conducted in Oxford, the trial will assess the safety and immune response of the ChAdOx1 BDBV vaccine in 50 healthy adults aged 18–55 years. Recruitment of volunteers into the study is now underway, where they will then attend screening visits. In the coming weeks, and following regulatory review for trial commencement, participants will then be vaccinated and attend follow-up visits in Oxford.
