Ebola outbreak in Congo claims over 3,000 lives

More than 3,000 people have died in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s worst-ever Ebola outbreak, according to government figures.

The death toll has reached 3,007, while the number of confirmed cases stands at 6,186, Caliber.Az reports per foreign media.

The outbreak was officially declared in Ituri province on May 15, although health officials and experts believe it may have begun as early as January.

The outbreak, caused by the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, has spread to six provinces despite efforts by Congolese authorities, the World Health Organization and aid organisations to contain it.

The epidemic has now become the largest and deadliest in the country’s history, surpassing the 2018-2020 outbreak.

Experts say weak disease surveillance, insecurity and resistance within some communities have made it harder to identify and treat patients at an early stage.

The World Health Organization estimates that about 60% of deaths occur outside treatment centres, underlining the difficulty of detecting cases before patients die.

There are currently no approved vaccines or treatments specifically for the Bundibugyo strain, although several vaccine candidates are being developed.

Congolese authorities have recently begun vaccinating frontline health workers with Merck’s Ervebo vaccine, which is licensed against the Zaire strain of Ebola and is believed to provide some cross-protection against Bundibugyo.

By Aghakazim Guliyev