Over 3,500 people have been infected with the Ebola virus in the DR Congo, which is becoming the world’s second-largest outbreak on record. According to the DRC Ministry of Communication and Media, 3,532 confirmed cases have been reported in the country.
The latest data shows that the current outbreak has now surpassed the country’s 10th on record, which ran from August 2018 to June 2020 and recorded nearly 3,470 confirmed Ebola cases.
“It’s the fastest spreading Ebola epidemic that we have ever seen,” Carl Skau, acting head of the United Nations World Food Programme said. “The world needs to pay much more attention.”
So far, 1,556 people have died from the virus, bringing the case fatality rate to 44.1 per cent, data compiled by the Ministry of Public Health showed. Over 800 patients have been kept in isolation or hospital, while 626 have recovered.
Less than three months since the outbreak began, the disease has killed five times more people than previous outbreaks, said the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).
The latest figures indicated that only the 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak in West Africa was bigger, with 28,616 cases and 11,310 deaths recorded across Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
The latest disease is caused by a mutation of the rare Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus, which has no approved vaccine or treatment. Medical personnel are also battling a lack of security and attacks on health facilities across eastern DRC, where dozens of armed groups operate, while contending with significant foreign aid cuts that have stretched resources.
The Africa CDC said in June that it would require $1.4bn to contain the outbreak, three times its earlier estimate.
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