Ebola Deaths Rise To Over 4000 In DR Congo As Government Battles Worsening Outbreak | Sahara Reporters

The outbreak is now the deadliest Ebola epidemic in the country’s history, as authorities continue efforts to contain the spread of the virus.

The death toll from the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has risen to 4018, with 8,300 confirmed cases recorded across seven provinces, according to government data released on Friday.

The outbreak is now the deadliest Ebola epidemic in the country’s history, as authorities continue efforts to contain the spread of the virus.

Response efforts have been hindered by weak infrastructure, the remoteness of affected areas in eastern DRC and ongoing conflict involving armed groups near the borders with South Sudan, Uganda and Rwanda.

The United Nations said on Friday that 19,000 people were forced to flee an Ebola-affected camp in Ituri Province after soldiers searching for weapons set fire to the facility earlier in the week.

The camp housed a transit centre for patients requiring Ebola treatment in Bunia, the capital of Ituri Province, which is at the centre of the outbreak.

“The enormous challenge of halting the spread of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) just became even harder after a key transit centre for patients requiring treatment burned down in Ituri province,” the UN said.

Mistrust and anger towards health workers and government authorities have also complicated efforts to contain the outbreak.

A senior member of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s governing Union for Democracy and Social Progress party, Marie-Celestin Karondwa, was beaten to death days after participating in a radio programme to raise awareness about the epidemic.

Karondwa, a local official in Butembo, an Ebola hotspot in North Kivu Province, was attacked at his home last Sunday. His house was later set on fire and he died in hospital from injuries sustained during the attack.

The World Health Organisation has warned that the epidemic is “far from over” and could surpass the 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak in West Africa, which killed more than 11,000 people, mainly in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

The current outbreak, caused by the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, became the largest and deadliest in DRC after surpassing the 2018-2020 outbreak.

Several treatments and vaccines are being trialled against the Bundibugyo strain, but there is currently no approved vaccine or treatment for it.

The outbreak, which is DRC’s 17th, has spread rapidly since it was officially declared on May 15.

More than 2,000 patients have recovered, while the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said the number of confirmed cases is declining.

However, the agency said the decline could partly be linked to insecurity and difficulties in gaining access to communities in some affected areas.