Ebola outbreak becomes deadliest in DR Congo’s history

The Ebola Bundibugyo outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is now the deadliest the country has ever faced, the UN’s World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday.According to local authorities, the disease has killed 2,325 people, surpassing the 2,299 deaths recorded in the DRC’s 2018-2020 outbreak, which was previously the country’s deadliest.The outbreak, declared by national authorities on 15 May, became the country’s largest in terms of total confirmed cases in late July. There are currently 4,945 confirmed cases, the latest data shows.A total of 730 patients remain in isolation or in the hospital and 1,040 people have recovered from the disease, and the fatality rate has risen to 46 per cent, according to Government data.The current outbreak remains eclipsed only by West Africa’s 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak, which saw 28,616 cases and 11,310 deaths, according to WHO, but the Bundibugyo outbreak is taking lives at a much faster rate.Vaccine trials are underway in the UK and Canada as the Bundibugyo strain has no approved treatment.Inadequate health infrastructure, ongoing conflict at the epicentre of the outbreak and distrust of medical authorities have all hind...