Yet the people fighting it are walking off the job.
This strike comes amid an already severe Ebola outbreak that has infected nearly 1,800 people and killed 600. The loss of frontline staff threatens to reverse containment efforts in a region where treatment centers are already nearly full.
The African Union's public health agency, Africa CDC, is stepping in. Wessam Mankoula, an Africa CDC epidemiologist, said at a briefing Thursday: "We need a decent work environment for our frontline healthcare workers that are fighting this growing Ebola outbreak."
This week, healthcare personnel in Bunia (Ituri province's capital) and nearby Rwampara launched a strike, citing non-payment of benefits and worsening work conditions. That is where more than 90% of cases are located. In December, the humanitarian organization Médecins Sans Frontières reported that nearly two in five health workers had abandoned their positions.
Of the facilities evaluated by the organization, over half were either shut down or damaged. Without workers, treatment centers cannot operate. Africa CDC is pushing to settle the payments quickly.
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Mankoula added: "This is very important to keep the morale of the healthcare workers."
The outbreak is not slowing down. The number of confirmed Ebola infections now stands at nearly 1,800, with 600 deaths recorded so far. In the past 24 hours alone, 20 people died.
Treatment centers are nearly full - occupancy rates are around 95%. To manage the influx of patients and curb transmission, the number of beds needs to rise by a minimum of 50%.
Right now, every ten infected individuals are transmitting the disease to roughly fourteen others. That ratio shows the outbreak is growing.
The strike only makes it harder to isolate patients and break the chain of transmission. If workers stay away, the virus will keep spreading.
The current labor action comes at a time when the health system in Ituri province is already under severe strain. Médecins Sans Frontières found in December that many facilities were nonfunctional, with more than half either closed or damaged, leaving patients with few options for care.
The World Health Organization is backing a clinical trial for experimental treatments. Gilead Sciences Inc. is supplying the drug remdesivir. Mapp Biopharmaceutical Inc. is supplying the antibody therapy MBP134.
Recruitment has started, but so far only a low double-digit number of people have joined. The trial is expected to expand from one treatment center to four and eventually ten sites. That will test whether these treatments are effective.
A separate worry is emerging far from the main outbreak zone. Kisangani, a city located approximately 700 km (435 miles) to the west of the main outbreak area, confirmed two Ebola cases. Investigators are still trying to figure out if this is a new transmission area or just isolated cases.
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