Ebola deaths in RD Kongo top 2,100 as outbreak quickens
WHO warns the current pace could surpass the 2014-2016 West Africa outbreak, before any approved vaccine or therapy existed.
The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Kongo is worsening, with more than 4,300 to 4,600 cases and at least 2,000 to 2,100 deaths in the country’s eastern region. The World Health Organization (WHO) says it is now the second-largest Ebola outbreak ever recorded and is moving faster than previous outbreaks. WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that at the current pace, it could surpass the West Africa Ebola crisis in 2014-2016, which killed more than 11,000 people. The outbreak, declared on 15 May, was driven by the rare Bundibugyo strain, for which no approved vaccine or therapy exists. Response efforts have been slowed by difficult access in remote areas, conflict near the border, shortages of resources, misinformation and health workers' strikes over unpaid wages.