DR Congo Ebola Death Toll Surpasses 3,200
The death toll from Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo has surpassed 3,200, as the country battles its deadliest outbreak of the disease on record.
According to figures covering the period up to September 6, authorities had recorded 6,686 confirmed cases and 3,226 deaths, giving the outbreak a fatality rate of about 48 percent. Cases have spread across six provinces, with Ituri remaining the main epicentre.
The outbreak, which was declared in May, is caused by the Bundibugyo species of Ebola, a strain for which there is currently no licensed vaccine or specific approved treatment. This has complicated efforts to contain the disease as infections continue to rise.
The World Health Organization says the response is being hindered by shortages of trained health workers, treatment capacity and funding. Nearly 1,400 treatment beds have been established across 59 centres, but another 1,600 beds are needed, alongside thousands of additional health workers.
Health officials are also battling insecurity, population displacement, mistrust and unsafe burial practices, all of which are making it harder to trace contacts and interrupt transmission.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has called for the response to be urgently scaled up, warning that the epidemic could continue to threaten the DRC and neighbouring countries if transmission chains are not broken.
The current outbreak has already surpassed the previous record in the DRC, the 2018–2020 epidemic, which killed about 2,300 people. It is now the second-deadliest Ebola outbreak ever recorded, behind the 2014–2016 West Africa epidemic.
