The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has surpassed 2,000 confirmed cases with 754 deaths, tripling in under five weeks after the government declared it the fastest-growing Ebola epidemic on record. The toll, which has more than doubled since late June, prompted Doctors Without Borders to warn the outbreak is spreading faster than health authorities can track.
Complicating the response, health workers at a treatment centre in northeastern Congo launched a strike on Monday over unpaid wages and bonuses. Protesters shut down Rwampara General Hospital in Ituri province, blockading access roads and burning a tyre. Health Minister Roger Kamba confirmed last week the virus has spread to two additional provinces, while the WHO estimates 80 percent of new infections fall outside known contact lists and fears the true scale may be two to four times larger than reported.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said a second American aid worker infected in eastern Congo was evacuated to Germany. The Netherlands pledged an additional four million euros to the response.