Ebola deaths in DRC surge past 1,300 as virus ‘spreading like a wildfire’

Nairobi, Kenya – The death toll from the latest Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has surged above 1,309, an extraordinary rise of more than 40 percent in just five days, government figures show, as a leading public health consultant says the virus is “spreading like a wildfire”.Updated data released by the government on Saturday showed that as of Thursday, the total number of confirmed cases, including deaths, had climbed to 2,973. This was a 27 percent rise from the figure last Saturday.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3‘There’s no salary’: DRC health workers tell of hardship as Ebola spreadslist 2 of 3Ebola death toll in the Democratic Republic of the Congo surges above 1,000list 3 of 3Ebola death toll in DR Congo surpasses 1,000end of listThe unprecedented rate at which cases are increasing and deaths are mounting has made the DRC epidemic the fastest-spreading Ebola outbreak ever documented.Compounding the danger, the virus spreading in the DRC is Bundibugyo, which is the rarest of the four variants of Ebola known to affect humans and currently has no approved vaccines or treatments.Abdulsalami Nasidi, a public health consultant who helped establis...