An Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has expanded to two additional provinces, authorities confirmed on Monday, compounding a deepening crisis as workers at a key treatment centre went on strike over months of unpaid salaries.

The outbreak was officially declared on 15 May, though the World Health Organization has noted the disease had already been spreading undetected for weeks before that announcement. The current strain is caused by the Bundibugyo virus — a rare variant of Ebola for which no approved vaccine or treatment exists — making containment efforts particularly urgent. The DRC, a vast country in central Africa that has experienced multiple Ebola outbreaks over the decades, is now facing the dual challenge of a geographically widening epidemic and a fracturing response infrastructure.

At Rwampara General Hospital in Ituri, a province in the country's northeast, dozens of staff walked off the job on Monday, shutting down the facility, blocking the road to its entrance and burning tyres at the main gate. Those on strike include epidemiologists, case investigators, drivers and burial team members, who say they have gone unpaid for 45 days since the outbreak began. Some workers had already begun striking the previous week. "We are burying people who have been in their homes for four days, and you can clearly see they died from Ebola. We are burying people in plastic bags to protect ourselves," said John Bahati Nguna, a member of the burial team. "We haven't been paid. It's been 45 days," added Olivier Duciel, who works in community awareness.

The grievances go beyond wages. Striking workers expressed frustration at what they described as a disconnect between officials sent from the capital, Kinshasa, and the realities on the ground. "They are coming from Kinshasa, claiming to be the bosses, and staying in hotels. They eat well, they sleep well and don't even know what's happening on the ground," Nguna said.

The strike raises serious concerns about the ability to contain the outbreak at a critical moment. Healthcare worker stoppages during active Ebola responses can have cascading consequences, from slowing contact tracing to disrupting safe burial practices — one of the most important tools for limiting transmission. With the virus now reaching additional provinces and frontline workers walking off the job, international health authorities and the Congolese government face mounting pressure to stabilise both the medical and logistical response before the situation deteriorates further.