Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Ebola Outbreak Declared Deadliest in Country’s History

The UN says one person is dying every 30 minutes in the DRC in the country's deadliest ever Ebola outbreak. 

A public health emergency of international concern was declared by the World Heath Institute (WHO) in May, but it’s believed the virus first began spreading in February. 

Right now, 2,325 people have died and 4,945 are sick according to the DRC’s public health institute. The WHO have said that the current situation looks set to become history's biggest Ebola outbreak, surpassing west Africa’s 2014 Ebola outbreak where over 11,000 people lost their lives. 

Public health specialist Thomas Parisch said: “Normally, as an outbreak progresses, the case fatality ratio should fall as contact tracing improves and patients are identified and treated earlier… Instead, we’re still seeing many cases detected very late, when treatment is less likely to succeed, with many identified only after they die in the community”.

There are no approved vaccines yet for the rare Bundibugyo strain of the virus responsible for the current surge in cases, but clinical trials of two possible treatments began last month in Ituri. 

Written by Jorja Flitcroft