Kinshasa: The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has crossed 7,000 confirmed infections, as the deadly virus continues to spread across the country and reaches a seventh province.
According to the latest figures, the number of confirmed cases has risen to 7,022, with the outbreak now extending to South Ubangi province in northwestern DR Congo. The death toll has climbed to 3,398, underscoring the severity of what has become the country’s largest Ebola outbreak on record.
The outbreak, caused by the Bundibugyo species of the Ebola virus, was initially concentrated in eastern parts of the country but has continued to expand geographically amid challenges including population movements, insecurity and pressure on the health system.
Read More
- Xi Jinping arrives in India for BRICS Summit, talks with Modi on agenda
- ‘Competition is taking ugly forms,’ says Russian President Putin
- 25 years on, US remembers nearly 3,000 lives lost in September 11 attacks
- Russian President Putin meets PM Narendra Modi, expanding trade to $100 billion by 2030 on agenda
- Nepal flood death toll reaches 1,385 as authorities continue search, relief efforts
The latest spread to South Ubangi was linked to a 23-year-old man who had travelled from South Kivu in eastern Congo before later dying in the northwestern province. Health authorities have since begun tracing people who may have come into contact with him.
Congolese authorities began vaccinating healthcare and frontline workers in late August with the Ervebo vaccine, the only licensed Ebola vaccine. However, the vaccine was originally developed against the more common Zaire Ebola virus, and its effectiveness against the Bundibugyo strain in humans remains uncertain.
The World Health Organization has therefore recommended that Ervebo be used against the current strain under research protocols while clinical trials continue. As of September 6, more than 2,000 healthcare and frontline workers had been vaccinated across affected areas.
WHO has warned that the outbreak remains a major public health threat, with shortages of trained health workers, operational partners and funding complicating efforts to bring transmission under control.
The scale of the crisis has also raised fears that the outbreak could approach the devastating levels witnessed during the 2014–2016 West Africa Ebola epidemic, the deadliest in history. That outbreak infected more than 28,000 people and killed over 11,000, primarily in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
