Ebola doctors in the Congo stage a strike

Doctors and nurses fighting the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo staged a strike in Butembo Wednesday, demanding safer working conditions. “People working to stop this Ebola outbreak have been in danger from the get-go,” says Helen Branswell, STAT’s infectious disease reporter. And while Ebola workers in the past were caught in the crossfire of other groups’ conflicts, health workers now have become targets. The AP reports the doctors are threatening an indefinite strike if health workers are attacked again, which would be “a huge setback to efforts to halt the spread of Ebola,” Helen says. But she also heard from the WHO, which says the protest isn’t expected to affect the response work.