DR Congo Ebola Cases Near 3,000 After Data Revision

Following the latest data revision, the number of confirmed Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has risen to nearly 3,000. The National Institute of Public Health reported 2,905 confirmed cases on Friday, including 1,269 deaths.

The increase was largely driven by the reconciliation of data from the provinces of Ituri and North Kivu with the national database.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that the true scale of the outbreak could be two to four times greater than official figures suggest.

This is the country's 17th Ebola outbreak. It was officially declared in mid-May, although experts believe infections had been circulating for several weeks beforehand.

The outbreak is caused by the rare Bundibugyo strain, which has a fatality rate of about 40% and for which there is currently no approved vaccine.

(Reuters, mja)