Ebola death toll passes 600 in DR Congo as unpaid health workers walk off the job

Government figures show that at least 600 people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have lost their lives to Ebola, while confirmed infections have climbed to 1,759.

The update, published on Wednesday and reflecting data through Tuesday, recorded 51 fresh cases and 20 additional deaths over the preceding 24 hours.

The official infection count does not yet cover two suspected cases in Kisangani, the Tshopo provincial capital and one of the country's largest urban centres. Authorities said laboratory results for those patients were still under review and would be added to the national tally once validated.

One of the Kisangani cases has been tied to Nia-Nia, a village in Ituri province where the outbreak was first detected. Officials said the other case "does not appear to have a geographic link" outside Kisangani.

As the crisis deepens, medical and front-line personnel in Ituri — the worst-affected of three eastern regions battling the virus — have begun leaving their posts over late salary payments. In a formal notice sent to national and provincial leaders over the weekend, workers in Ituri warned they would strike unless wages arrived within 24 hours.

By Tuesday, several staff members had already halted work, though no formal strike had been announced, The Associated Press reported. Health professionals and other response workers told AP they had received neither regular pay nor bonuses since the outbreak was declared on 15 May. They also complained of scarce protective equipment and what they described as unfair treatment from officials and outbreak teams.

"Since the Ebola virus disease outbreak was declared, we've been demanding payment for our work," Dr Biensi Kano, who sits on the epidemiological surveillance committee in Bunia, Ituri's capital, told AP.

The labour action coincides with the opening of enrolment for clinical trials aimed at treating the Bundibugyo virus driving this outbreak. That Ebola strain is widely regarded as less lethal than some others, yet no vaccine has been approved for it.

When the World Health Organization classified the outbreak as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern in May, the virus had already been circulating undetected for weeks through the mining communities of Mongbwalu, Rwampara and Bunia before spreading into neighbouring provinces, Al Jazeera's Catherine Wambua-Soi reported from the DRC earlier this month.