The death toll from the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has risen to 4,018, with confirmed cases reaching 8,300 across seven provinces, government data showed on Friday.
The outbreak, caused by the Bundibugyo species of Ebola virus, has become the deadliest in the country’s history, surpassing the 2018–2020 epidemic.
The latest figures showed that more than 2,000 patients had recovered from the disease.
The outbreak Is now the second-deadliest Ebola epidemic on record, after the 2014–2016 West African outbreak, which infected more than 28,600 people and killed over 11,000 in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
The Congolese government and the United Nations said last month, that transmission appeared to be slowing in parts of Ituri Province, where the outbreak began.
However, the virus continues to spread rapidly in eastern Congo, including neighbouring North Kivu Province.
South Ubangi Province in northwestern Congo became the seventh province to report the outbreak last month after a man who had travelled from eastern Congo died from the virus.
Reuters
