Ebola cases surpass 8,000 as DRC struggles to control outbreak
Fatalities near 4,000 across the DRC as health workers battle community anger and a vaccine-resistant strain.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has recorded over 8,000 cases of Ebola, including almost 4,000 deaths, amid the worst outbreak in the country’s history, according to government data.
The latest report, published on Monday by the DRC’s public health institute, put the number of cases at 8,067 and deaths at 3,901, representing a fatality rate of 48.4 percent.
People’s mistrust and anger towards government policies have become a major obstacle in limiting the outbreak since it was officially declared on May 15. A senior member of the ruling UDPS party was beaten to death after raising awareness about the epidemic on radio, a party representative said on Monday. The killing happened on Sunday in Butembo in North Kivu province, which has become a hotspot in the ongoing Ebola outbreak.
The current outbreak, which is the DRC’s 17th, has spread rapidly. Experts say weak health infrastructure, the region’s remoteness and ongoing conflict near the DRC’s borders with South Sudan, Uganda and Rwanda have damaged efforts to respond to cases quickly and effectively.