Ebola Cases in Congo Top 4,000 as Outbreak Accelerates

The number of confirmed Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has exceeded 4,000 for the first time during the current outbreak, according to government data. The country’s public health institute said 4,053 cases had been recorded, including 1,850 deaths.

The epidemic is the world’s second-largest Ebola outbreak and has been described as the fastest-spreading on record. Cases have been reported in five provinces: Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu, Haut-Uele and Tshopo.

The outbreak was officially declared on 15 May, but experts believe the virus had been circulating for several months before then. A study published in Science concluded that the outbreak in Ituri Province began in January or even earlier. The true number of infections could therefore be significantly higher.

Containment efforts have been hampered by delayed detection, an overwhelmed surveillance system, armed conflict and a lack of vaccines and treatments for the species of Ebola virus involved.

Only the 2014–16 West African epidemic was larger, with more than 28,000 cases recorded.

(Reuters, lud)