The Ebola outbreak ravaging the Democratic Republic of Congo has killed more than 2,000 people, health officials said this week, as the epidemic continues to expand across the country’s east.
The Congolese government reported more than 4,300 confirmed cases across five provinces as of Tuesday, according to figures cited by health authorities. The World Health Organization has described the outbreak as the fastest-spreading Ebola epidemic ever recorded, and the second-largest in history.
The current outbreak, the 17th in Congo’s history, is being driven by the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus, a rarer variant for which no licensed vaccine or treatment currently exists. Existing Ebola therapies were developed to target a different strain of the virus, complicating the response.
The WHO said last week that trials of a candidate vaccine were underway, though results are not expected for several months.
Health officials said the virus is believed to have been circulating undetected since February, roughly three months before the outbreak was formally declared in mid-May. It has since spread from its origin point in Ituri province into North Kivu, South Kivu, Haut-Uele and Tshopo provinces, reaching a total of 49 health zones.
The death toll has climbed rapidly in recent weeks — surpassing 1,000 in late July and 1,500 within days — as the virus continues to outrun containment efforts in a region long destabilized by armed conflict.
The World Health Organization declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern in May. A related, smaller outbreak in neighboring Uganda was declared over in late July.
