KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — The head of the World Health Organization arrived in Congo was in Congo on Wednesday as aid workers said the world’s fastest-growing Ebola outbreak is spreading at an “alarming” rate and some health workers are striking over lack of pay.WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was scheduled to meet with partners and President Félix Tshisekedi in the capital, Kinshasa, the WHO country office told The Associated Press. It was his second visit since the outbreak was declared in mid-May.The Ebola outbreak had 3,874 confirmed cases, including 1,751 deaths, as of Monday, according to data published overnight by Congo’s Ministry of Health.In Ituri, the outbreak’s epicenter, families said many frontline workers have gone on strike, worsening access to healthcare that was already challenged by rebel conflict in one of Congo’s most remote and vulnerable areas, its east near the borders of South Sudan, Uganda and Rwanda.
While some frontline workers say they have started receiving payment in the last week for work done since the outbreak began, they are demanding improved wages.Anicet Baluku, a resident of Bunia, Ituri’s capital, blamed the death of his two brothers from Ebola on the strike. “We urge the authorities to quickly find a solution to prevent other families from experiencing the same tragedy,” he told the AP.
