DR Congo Ebola Death Toll Tops 5,000 as Bundibugyo Outbreak Spreads to 8 Provinces
Updated
Updated · Reuters · Oct 30
DR Congo Ebola Death Toll Tops 5,000 as Bundibugyo Outbreak Spreads to 8 Provinces
3 articles · Updated · Reuters · Oct 30
Summary
More than 5,000 people have now died in DR Congo's Ebola outbreak, government data showed Friday, making it the country's deadliest Ebola epidemic on record.
Over 10,000 infections have been recorded since May, and authorities still lack approved treatments or vaccines for the rare Bundibugyo strain driving the outbreak.
Delayed detection, conflict and strained health services have accelerated transmission, helping the virus spread across eight of DR Congo's 26 provinces and into neighboring countries.
Nigeria last week became the fourth African country to report a case, after Kenya and Uganda, while Saudi Arabia on Friday suspended travel to and entry from Kenya after earlier curbs on DR Congo, Uganda and South Sudan.
The epidemic is already the world's second-largest Ebola outbreak, behind the 2014-2016 West Africa crisis that infected more than 28,600 people and killed over 11,000.