Wiza Bondele, a 29-year-old infection control worker, goes to work every day at a hospital in Congo with one goal in mind: to slow the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak on record. At an Ebola treatment hospital in the eastern Ituri province, Bondele disinfects contaminated areas, checks visitors’ temperatures, and enforces handwashing protocols — work that puts him at risk of getting infected.
However, like hundreds of other front-line health workers, including burial teams and drivers, Bondele says he has been working without pay since the outbreak was declared in mid-May in one of Congo’s most remote and conflict-hit regions. The payment issues and attacks on health teams and facilities have forced some health workers to walk off the job, disrupting critical care in the outbreak that authorities say continues to spread at an alarming rate and faster than efforts to track it.
Challenges Faced by Health Workers
Poor welfare for front-line workers has been a key source of concern in the outbreak. Ebola spreads through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected people or contaminated materials, a risk Bondele is well aware of. “Sometimes patients are bleeding or vomiting blood. We clean and disinfect those places,” Bondele told The Associated Press while on duty. “With risks like that, we deserve salaries.”
Confirmed cases in the outbreak have exceeded 4,000, including over 1,800 deaths, according to the latest government data. It is the second-largest Ebola outbreak on record, behind the 2014-2016 West Africa outbreak that recorded more than 28,000 cases, including over 11,000 deaths. This outbreak has been linked to the Bundibugyo virus, for which there are currently no approved vaccines or treatments.
Financial Strain on Health Workers
Workers continue to report for duty despite financial strain. A veteran of Congo’s 2018 Ebola response, Bondele returned when the virus resurfaced, believing his experience could help protect his community in Ituri, which accounts for nearly 90% of the Ebola cases. Instead, he found himself among many workers who have continued reporting for duty without receiving the monthly salary of $510 that Bondele said they were promised.
Officials have told them that the outstanding payments will be made, he said. During a visit to Ituri last month, Congo’s Health Minister Roger Kamba said the government is verifying a list of those working to control the outbreak, as some unrelated names have been added to the payroll. “We must ensure that these payments reach the right people,” Kamba said.
Insecurity and Mistrust Complicate the Response
The strikes come as the Ebola response is already battling armed conflict, widespread misinformation, and deep public mistrust, all of which have made it harder for health workers to contain the outbreak. “It is very difficult to get people to understand,” Bondele said. “Sometimes while raising awareness I can be threatened or beaten, and I have to run away.”
Restrictions on traditional burials, where families are prevented from touching the highly contagious bodies of loved ones, have fueled resentment in some communities. Rumors claim that the virus is a hoax, that health workers are profiting from the outbreak, or that hospitals are withholding lifesaving treatments. The misinformation has repeatedly turned violent, with angry crowds torching Ebola treatment centers, storming hospitals to retrieve relatives’ bodies, and attacking teams carrying out safe burials.
As visitors line up for temperature checks and disinfectant is sprayed to keep the virus at bay, Bondele continues the work he says he joined out of passion. “Working this job takes a lot of courage,” he said. “But today, I am discouraged.”
Mitchell Landsberg is the senior reporter for News Raise and focuses on Technology. Mitchell regularly writes about social media platforms and how influencers, industry and general people use them to communicate and make money.
