Ebola Outbreak 'Still Evolving' As Deaths Pass 3,000
The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has surpassed 3,000 deaths and continues to evolve rapidly. Health officials report that contact tracing efforts are insufficient, leading to many deaths occurring within the community before treatment can be provided.
Why it matters
The failure to effectively trace contacts and contain the virus poses a significant threat to regional stability and global health security.
More than 3,000 people have died in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Ebola Bundibugyo outbreak out of 6,250 confirmed cases, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said Thursday, as the virus kills nearly half of those it infects and outpaces efforts to contain it.
“The numbers are telling the story,” Dr Wesam Mankula, lead of the Continental Incident Management Support Team, told reporters at Africa CDC’s weekly briefing. “This outbreak is still evolving.”
At 16 weeks, the epidemic has spread over an area larger than the United Kingdom, France, and more than 35 African states. It is already the second largest Ebola outbreak in DRC’s history, and is on track to be the largest on record, with 6.5 times the caseload that the 2014 West Africa epidemic had at the same stage.
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