DR Congo Ebola Confirmed Cases Top 5,000

KINSHASA/ADDIS ABABA, Aug 18 (Bernama-Xinhua) -- Confirmed Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have surpassed 5,000, with more than 2,320 deaths, as the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) warned on Monday that the outbreak could become the deadliest Ebola epidemic ever recorded globally unless its trajectory is urgently reversed, reported Xinhua.

Three months after the outbreak caused by the Bundibugyo ebolavirus was declared, its evolution has "exceeded our gravest expectations", the Africa CDC said in a statement.

As of Monday, the DRC had reported more than 5,000 confirmed cases and over 2,320 deaths across six provinces: Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu, Haut-Uele, Bas-Uele and Tshopo, according to the agency.

The Africa CDC said the outbreak has already become the deadliest in the history of the DRC and the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak on record, with the case fatality ratio approaching 50 per cent.

"It is now taking approximately one life every 30 minutes," the agency said. "Unless its trajectory is urgently reversed, it risks becoming the deadliest Ebola outbreak ever recorded globally."

The Africa CDC also pointed to neighbouring Uganda, which declared the end of its Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak on July 28, saying Uganda's experience showed that the virus could be contained when proven public health measures were implemented rapidly and comprehensively with communities at the centre of the response.

The DRC declared the current Ebola outbreak on May 15.  

-- BERNAMA-XINHUA