The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has claimed 1,521 lives, with 3,442 laboratory-confirmed infections recorded as health authorities and global experts warn the epidemic is spreading at an unprecedented pace.
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) has recorded 1,521 deaths from the latest Ebola outbreak, with laboratory-confirmed infections rising to 3,442, according to official government data released on Thursday.
Government figures show the outbreak has a fatality rate of 44 per cent, indicating that nearly half of all confirmed Ebola cases have resulted in death.
Health experts have warned that the actual number of infections could be significantly higher, as many cases are believed to have gone undetected or unreported. They also suspect the virus had been circulating for several months before the outbreak was officially identified in mid-May.
The epidemic is now spreading at an unprecedented rate.
Speaking on Wednesday, the Deputy Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP), Carl Skau, described the situation as the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak ever recorded.
“This is the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak of all time. In West Africa, it took eight months for 1,000 people to die,” Skau said.
The 2014–2015 Ebola epidemic in West Africa remains the deadliest on record, claiming more than 11,000 lives. The second-largest outbreak occurred in eastern DR Congo between 2018 and 2020, where approximately 2,300 people died.
Ebola is a severe and often fatal viral disease transmitted through direct physical contact with infected individuals or exposure to contaminated bodily fluids.
Health authorities continue to intensify surveillance, treatment and containment efforts as they work to curb the spread of the virus.
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