In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Ebola outbreak has claimed the lives of 2,325 individuals, as per government figures released on Sunday. This surpasses the death toll of the previous 2018-2020 outbreak, making it the deadliest outbreak in the nation’s history. The country’s public health institute reported an increase in confirmed cases to 4,945, with 101 new cases identified in the last 24 hours.
This current outbreak, the 17th in the country, has already set a record for the highest number of cases. The total number of deaths now exceeds the 2,299 fatalities recorded in the previous 2018-2020 Congo outbreak, which was previously the worst on record. The latest data shows 4,945 confirmed cases in total.
Three months since its official declaration, this outbreak is now second in scale only to the 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak in West Africa, where 28,616 cases and 11,310 deaths were reported across Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, according to the World Health Organization. Unlike the previous outbreak, which took almost five months to reach 1,000 deaths, the current outbreak in Congo reached 2,000 deaths in less than three months.
The current outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, for which there are no approved vaccines or treatments. The outbreak has intensified since its declaration on May 15, with challenges such as weak health infrastructure, community resistance, and instability impeding efforts to identify and respond to cases.
The case fatality ratio, indicating the proportion of deaths after confirmed infections, has increased from about 20% in early June to 46%, meaning nearly half of the confirmed cases are now fatal. Experts attribute this trend to persistent deficiencies in surveillance, case detection, and access to care, rather than an increase in the virus’s lethality.
Efforts are underway to evaluate a small number of experimental vaccines and therapies, as well as existing Ebola treatments for potential protection. However, evidence remains limited to animal studies. The outbreak had previously spread to neighboring Uganda but was contained, resulting in two deaths and 20 confirmed cases before being declared over last month.
Ebola is transmitted through direct contact with bodily fluids of infected individuals and can lead to symptoms like fever, vomiting, diarrhea, and in severe cases, internal and external bleeding.