At least 1,657 people have lost their lives due to the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), while confirmed infections continue to rise to reach 3,748, according to the latest report released by the health authorities of the African country.
"690 patients are currently in isolation or hospitalized, 708 people have been cured since the beginning of the epidemic, and 1,657 deaths have been recorded. The fatality rate is set at 44.2%, while the contact tracing rate advances to 80.1%," the Ministry of Communication indicated in a message on social media.
Furthermore, the ministry has detailed that "the surveillance, research, and laboratory devices remain fully mobilized, with more than 1,000 alerts investigated and hundreds of samples analyzed in the last 24 hours."
"Care for patients continues despite the pressure exerted on some treatment centers in North Kivu and Ituri. Risk communication activities, community engagement, dignified and safe burials, as well as psychosocial support, continue in order to reinforce the adherence of populations to prevention and response measures," it concluded.
WHO Alert on the Expansion of the Outbreak
The World Health Organization (WHO) warned last weekend in a statement that the outbreak "is intensifying, with sustained transmission and a continuous increase in reported cases and deaths."
The current outbreak of the Bundibugyo strain, for which there is still no approved vaccine, has already far surpassed the previously deadliest recorded in the DRC, declared between 2018 and 2020 and which resulted in 3,317 confirmed cases.