Congo: Confirmed Ebola cases rise to 3,200, deaths to 1,405

Ebola is spreading in the eastern part of the country, which has been plagued by a bloody conflict for more than 30 years.

The virus is transmitted through close contact and bodily fluids, causing hemorrhagic fever. Over the past 50 years, it has claimed the lives of more than 15,000 people across the African continent.

The deadliest outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo claimed the lives of approximately 2,300 people out of 3,500 infected between 2018 and 2020.

The seventeenth wave of the virus outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo was declared on May 15. There is currently no vaccine or treatment for the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola circulating in the country.

Congolese authorities stated in this report that “available data allow for more precise monitoring of the evolution of cases and deaths,” thanks to “tangible improvements in case detection and confirmation.”

The epicenter of the outbreak is in Ituri, a province located in northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the border with South Sudan and Uganda, accounting for approximately 90% of cases, according to the World Health Organization.