Community health worker Gédéon Banga Ngbape and his team in Nizi, eastern Congo, are struggling to keep pace with the country's fastest-growing Ebola outbreak on record, with 60-70% of new cases found in people who weren't already being tracked as contacts. The outbreak has killed over 2,200 people among more than 4,700 cases, reaching that toll nearly three times faster than the 2014-16 West Africa outbreak that killed over 11,000.
Workers report 60 to 70 alerts a day, 15-hour shifts, and a lack of basic protective equipment — one worker said she buys her own disinfectant. Health workers at the Nizi Treatment Center went on strike this week, unpaid for over three months, while Congo's government says the delay is due to payroll verification.
The outbreak, caused by the rare Bundibugyo virus with no approved vaccine or treatment, is compounded by rebel group threats, attacks on health facilities, and misinformation claiming Ebola isn't real. The U.N. announced an additional $30.5 million in emergency funding on Friday.
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