DRC Ebola outbreak becomes deadliest in country's history with over 2,300 deaths
Official data show the Democratic Republic of the Congo's latest Ebola outbreak has killed at least 2,325 people, making it the deadliest in the nation and the fastest-growing in recorded history.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo's public health institute reported that the current Ebola outbreak has claimed at least 2,325 lives and confirmed 4,945 cases, including 101 new infections in the past 24 hours. The outbreak, now the deadliest in the country's history, has spread across six of the 26 provinces, with more than 3,400 cases recorded in Ituri province where it began.
The World Health Organization warned that the epidemic is on track to exceed the 2014-16 West Africa outbreak, which caused 11,310 deaths. The UN noted that the disease is killing roughly one person every 30 minutes. This is the 17th Ebola outbreak in the DRC and the fastest-growing, reaching over 2,000 deaths in less than three months, compared with five months for the West Africa crisis to reach 1,000 deaths.
No approved vaccines or treatments exist for the Bundibugyo strain responsible for the surge, though clinical trials of two experimental treatments started last month in Ituri. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said two vaccines specifically targeting Bundibugyo are now being tested on people.
"Normally, as an outbreak progresses, the case fatality ratio should fall as contact tracing improves and patients are identified and treated earlier. Instead, we’re still seeing many cases detected very late, when treatment is less likely to succeed, with many identified only after they die in the community," said Thomas Parisch, a public health specialist with Médecins Sans Frontières.
Uganda has reported 20 cases, all in Kampala, with the last case on 21 June and no community transmission since. The WHO declared the DRC and Uganda outbreak a public health emergency of international concern in May, after sequencing indicated the virus had been circulating since February.
Ebola spreads from wildlife to humans and then through direct contact with infected bodily fluids or contaminated materials. WHO outlines symptoms ranging from fever and fatigue to vomiting, diarrhoea and organ failure.