Ebola outbreak in Congo becomes deadliest in the country's history
The current Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has become the deadliest in the country's history. The death toll has reached at least 2,325 people, surpassing the figure of the major epidemic of 2018–2020.
According to the latest data from the Congolese Institute of Public Health, the total number of confirmed cases has risen to 4,945. Just in the past day, another 101 cases of infection were detected.
The epidemic continues to spread rapidly across the country. Cases have already been registered in six of the 26 provinces of the DRC. The worst situation remains in Ituri in the northeast of the country, where more than 3,400 cases have been recorded.
The rate of spread of the infection has also become record-breaking. According to data cited by The Guardian, the current epidemic is the fastest-growing known Ebola outbreak. UN representatives warned last week that the disease in Congo is now claiming approximately one life every 30 minutes.
The current outbreak is caused by a rare type of virus, Bundibugyo. Unlike the more well-known Zaire variant, there is no approved specific vaccine or targeted treatment for it yet. WHO and partners are testing experimental drugs and vaccines.
The situation is complicated by the late detection of some infected individuals. Medical workers note that many patients enter the healthcare system already at late stages of the disease, when the chances of successful treatment are significantly lower.
On May 17, the WHO declared the Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak in the DRC and Uganda a public health emergency of international concern. However, the organization did not classify it as a pandemic emergency.
Earlier, Current Ukraine wrote that as of July 31, the current outbreak had already become the largest in history specifically for the Bundibugyo virus: at that time, 3,532 confirmed cases and about 1,556 deaths were registered in Congo. Since then, the number of confirmed infections has increased by more than 1,400, and the number of deaths by almost 770.
For comparison, the deadliest Ebola epidemic in the world occurred in West Africa in 2014–2016. Then, in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, more than 28.6 thousand cases and 11.3 thousand deaths were registered. Therefore, the current anti-record applies specifically to the history of the DRC, not the world as a whole.
Based on materials from: The Guardian, World Health Organization
