Ebola death toll in DR Congo passes 5,000
Authorities are struggling to find a way to control the outbreak, with no approved treatments or vaccines.
The death toll from Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has surpassed 5,000, government data show, with authorities yet to find a way to control the country’s deadliest outbreak of the virus on record.
There are no approved treatments or vaccines to combat the rare Bundibugyo strain of the virus, responsible for the ongoing outbreak.
Delayed detection, conflict and strained health services have helped the virus spread more rapidly than in past outbreaks, reaching eight of the DRC’s 26 provinces to date.
This year’s Ebola outbreak is the second-largest ever, behind only the 2014-2016 epidemic that infected more than 28,600 people and killed more than 11,000 people across Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.