Amid a cloud of sawdust and the whine of a buzz saw, Djo Limayo, a carpenter in the Democratic Republic of Congo, was at work building another coffin in the city of Bunia. Business has been strong for Mr. Limayo since an Ebola outbreak hit Bunia in May. Before the outbreak, he sold around 15 coffins a month. Since then it has risen to 80 coffins a month, he said, partly because he had received a supply contract from a morgue. More than a dozen carpentry workshops line the streets, all focused on coffin making.

Every few days, Mr. Limayo rides his motorbike to a lumber yard to buy planks of wood. Once delivered, he and apprentices saw and plane them to size with power tools. Bunia’s streets remain bustling. A university held a graduation ceremony over the weekend. Coffins were on display during the early weeks of the outbreak, when Ebola deaths had soared. As of Saturday, there have been 6,041 confirmed cases and 2,911 confirmed deaths.

Carpenters said coffin purchases were almost always unplanned, done in haste by families. Clients typically arrive on motorbikes and choose based on price. While several coffin makers believed they were providing a necessary public service, the virus sparked debate over safely burying Ebola victims. Medical experts stress safe burial is critical since bodies remain infectious. Aid agencies provide safe bags for corpses before coffining. Recently, two men bought a white coffin with imitation gold accents for Aimerance Katungu, 27, who had died two days earlier. The coffin had a darkened glass window. The body was safely buried and the coffin was not opened, despite threats from young men in the crowd.

Felix Muzinga, who runs the Chez Felix carpentry workshop, said coffin sales rose around 50 percent since the outbreak began. With starting prices at several hundred dollars, a death is a significant expense, even with cheaper coffins. Almost every family still feels compelled to buy, he said: “It’s the last walk.”