The Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has become the fastest-growing in the disease’s history, with more than 1,700 deaths and over 3,800 confirmed cases since it was declared in May.
Officials say nearly 80 per cent of new infections are occurring through community transmission, making contact tracing increasingly difficult. Armed conflict, population displacement and attacks on health facilities have also slowed response efforts.
The World Health Organisation and Africa CDC are supporting the Congolese government’s response, while researchers continue clinical trials of potential treatments and vaccines for the rare Bundibugyo strain of the virus.
The Director-General of the World Health Organisation, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, will arrive in the Congolese capital, Kinshasa, today and is expected to visit Bunia, near the outbreak’s epicentre, later this week.
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