The workers at the epicenter of Congo's Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak — the surveillance teams tracking contacts, the burial teams managing the dead, the community outreach workers trying to build trust in frightened neighborhoods — went on strike this week. They have not been paid since the outbreak was declared on May 15, 2026, according to reporting from the Associated Press and Reuters.
The work stoppage — centered in Bunia, the capital of Ituri Province, and the neighboring town of Rwampara — has directly compromised continuity of essential health services at the front of an outbreak that has infected 1,759 people and killed at least 600 as of the latest government data, according to Reuters. Bunia and Rwampara together account for roughly 847 confirmed infections — nearly half of Congo's total.
