The death toll from the Ebola outbreak in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has surpassed 200, health authorities have said, as infections continue to rise and concerns grow over the pace of transmission.
According to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) on Thursday, confirmed cases have reached 875 since the outbreak was declared on May 15, including 202 deaths, resulting in a mortality rate of 23 percent.
The outbreak is concentrated in the eastern provinces of Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu, with Ituri accounting for nearly 95 percent of all reported infections.
The virus has also crossed the border into Uganda, where 19 cases and two deaths have been confirmed.
Officials expand response
Africa CDC said testing capacity and digital surveillance systems have been strengthened in an effort to improve case detection and curb the spread of the disease.
Africa CDC Director General Jean Kaseya warned that the outbreak could become more severe than the devastating 2014-2016 Ebola epidemic in West Africa if transmission is not rapidly brought under control.
That outbreak claimed more than 11,000 lives across Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Congolese Health Minister Roger Kamba travelled to Bunia, the capital of Ituri province, on Thursday to assess response efforts, review challenges and discuss new strategies to accelerate containment measures.
Meanwhile, scientists from Uganda’s Health Ministry and Congo’s National Institute for Biomedical Research said genetic analysis indicates the current Ebola Bundibugyo strain emerged from a new wildlife spillover event.
The finding rules out the possibility that the outbreak is linked to an older chain of transmission that had remained undetected, providing investigators with important clues about the source of the epidemic as containment efforts intensify.
