Ebola cases in DRC hit 5,515 as Pope Leo urges global action to save lives
The Ebola outbreak in the DRC has reached 5,515 cases with a high fatality rate of nearly 48 percent. Pope Leo has called for international intervention to help contain the virus, which is being exacerbated by regional armed conflict.
Why it matters
As a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, the outbreak poses a significant threat to regional stability and global health security.
Case fatality rate climbs to nearly 48 percent in the DRC, meaning almost one in two people infected with Ebola are dying.
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The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has reached 5,515 confirmed cases of infection and killed 2,642 people, with 51 new cases detected in Ituri and North Kivu provinces, according to the latest government figures.
The update on Sunday came as Pope Leo called for international action to help contain the epidemic, which is now the deadliest Ebola outbreak in the DRC’s history.
Declared in mid-May, it is the DRC’s 17th Ebola epidemic and was designated a Public Health Emergency of International Concern by the World Health Organization (WHO), its highest alert level, also covering neighbouring Uganda.
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