The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has killed 2,325 people, surpassing the death toll from the 2018-2020 outbreak to become the deadliest in the country’s history.
The confirmed number of people being infected with the virus has risen to 4,945, including 101 new cases detected in the previous 24 hours, the DRC’s National Public Health Institute said in its latest report on Sunday.
“Ebola is winning in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. We cannot let the virus outrun our response,” Fletcher said as he outlined the latest efforts to contain the virus.
The current outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo species of Ebola virus, which has no approved vaccines or treatment yet. The proportion of people dying from the outbreak after a confirmed infection, known as the case fatality ratio, has risen from about 20 percent in early June to 46 percent, according to government data.
“Normally, as an outbreak progresses, the case fatality ratio should fall as contact tracing improves and patients are identified and treated earlier,” said Thomas Parisch, a public health specialist deployed to the DRC with medical charity Doctors Without Borders, known by its French initials MSF.
“Instead, we’re still seeing many cases detected very late, when treatment is less likely to succeed, with many identified only after they die in the community.”
