DR Congo Reports Sharp Increase in Ebola Cases with Over 3,000 Confirmed

The authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo announced on Sunday that the total number of confirmed Ebola virus infections has reached 3,075, with 1,354 fatalities. This follows the detection of approximately 1,000 new cases over the last ten days, after the infection count exceeded 2,000 on July 15.

Officials indicated that these cases have been reported across five provinces. They affirmed that the available data allows for more precise tracking of the progression of cases and deaths, attributing this improvement to enhanced detection and confirmation processes.

According to the World Health Organization, the epicenter of the outbreak is in Ituri province in the northeast of the country, bordering South Sudan and Uganda, where about 90% of the total cases have been recorded.

In recent days, several hospitals in Ituri province have experienced strikes by healthcare workers demanding the payment of their salaries.

The Democratic Republic of Congo declared the seventeenth wave of the Ebola outbreak on May 15. Currently, there is no approved vaccine or treatment for the Bundibugyo strain circulating in the country.

Meanwhile, health experts and international organizations continue to work on developing vaccines and treatments for this strain. On Friday, the first volunteer received an experimental vaccine developed by Oxford University. Preparations are ongoing to initiate clinical trials for other experimental vaccines, alongside the development of two new treatments.

Ebola virus spreads in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, a region that has experienced violent conflict for over 30 years. Transmission occurs through direct contact and bodily fluids, causing a hemorrhagic fever that has claimed more than 15,000 lives in Africa over the past five decades.

The outbreak between 2018 and 2020 was the deadliest in the country's history, resulting in approximately 2,300 deaths out of 3,500 infected individuals.