Health · DRC Ebola surge · ArchiveUnpaid Ebola Worker Says He Wants to Quit as DRC Cases SurgeAired August 7, 2026 at 2:09 PM UTCWritten September 7, 2026 at 9:22 PM UTCRead the write-upThis storyTranscript · LOADING0:00The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic0:01Republic of the Congo is spreading0:03faster than the response. The man who0:05suits up every day to disinfect homes0:07where residents died has not been paid0:08since mid-May. Congolese health0:10authorities report nearly 4,0000:12confirmed cases and 1,800 deaths since0:15the outbreak began in May.0:16Nearly half of those infected are dead.0:18His name is Wiz Bumeli. In July, he and0:21other health workers went on strike. The0:23DRC's Minister of Health acknowledged0:25the late payments, [music] blaming what0:26he called organizational issues. Some of0:29Bumeli's colleagues have since received0:31partial back pay. Bumeli has not, and no0:33explanation has been given. From mid-May0:36through the July strike to today's0:38unresolved partial payments, the0:40financial strain on frontline workers0:41has intensified while the virus spreads.0:43Sanitation worker Wiz Bumeli places0:46himself between contamination and the0:47community every day while the health0:49minister acknowledges the payment0:51failures but offers no immediate fix.0:59Bumeli says health workers struck1:01because they were working under1:02dangerous conditions and sacrificing1:04their energy. He now wants to leave the1:06job not only over money, but because he1:08fears spreading the virus to his family1:09and neighbors. Every day, Bumeli suits1:11up, enters [music] contaminated homes,1:14and scrubs surfaces where the Ebola1:15virus can remain infectious for days. If1:18he walks away, that barrier between the1:20virus and the community disappears. On1:22Thursday, Africa's top health agency1:24announced a vaccine [music] rollout, but1:26it targets a previous Ebola strain, not1:29necessarily the one driving the current1:30surge. Global health officials warn new1:33cases are doubling in some hotspots.1:35With the outbreak worsening and the1:37response strained, workers like Bumeli1:39remain the thin line between containment1:41and catastrophe, yet they are being1:43asked to hold that line unpaid. What1:45remains unresolved? Whether Bumeli will1:47receive the back pay he is owed, whether1:49the organizational failures the health1:51minister acknowledged can be repaired1:53before more workers quit, and whether an1:55Ebola response already losing ground can1:57afford to lose the people who stand1:58between contaminated homes and the2:00communities around them.Explore with HeyDexFollow via RSSThe shortThe short ↗Related coverageBackgroundOct 21 09:53 UTCAbuja Ebola patient in isolation as Nigeria traces 44 contactsBackgroundOct 21 08:18 UTCKenya’s Ebola cases reach nine as first quarantined contacts near release