The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has officially become the deadliest in the country’s history, public health officials confirmed, with 2,325 people killed since the virus was declared on 15 May. Please confirm all public‑health information with a trusted source.
The crisis has escalated at a pace never seen before. UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher warned last week that the epidemic is now “killing someone every 30 minutes,” underscoring the severity of a virus spreading faster than any previous outbreak on record.
There is no approved vaccine for the Bundibugyo species responsible for the current epidemic, though several candidates are in development including one using technology similar to the AstraZeneca Covid‑19 vaccine.
DR Congo’s Institute of Public Health reported 4,945 confirmed cases as of Sunday, including 101 new infections in just 24 hours. The virus has now reached six of the country’s 26 provinces, a spread the World Health Organization has described as “exceptional.”
Beyond DR Congo, relatively few cases have been detected. As of 12 August, 20 infections were confirmed in neighbouring Uganda, while isolated cases were treated in Germany and France.
Still, the speed of transmission inside DR Congo is unprecedented. Reuters notes that the world’s deadliest Ebola outbreak in West Africa from 2014 to 2016 took nearly five months to reach 1,000 deaths. This outbreak reached 2,000 deaths in just three months, with researchers suggesting it may have been circulating undetected since February.
The scale, speed and reach of the virus have left health agencies racing to contain an epidemic that continues to outpace global response efforts.
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