Bunia, Nov 2:
The death toll in the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has crossed 5,000, raising concerns over the spread of the disease to other African countries and the authorities’ ability to contain it.
The latest data from the Congolese Health Ministry showed that 5,026 people had died out of 10,351 reported infections, taking the fatality rate to nearly 50 per cent.
The outbreak, caused by the Bundibugyo virus, was declared in mid-May and caught health authorities by surprise. Officials have since struggled to contain the spread.
The outbreak is already the second deadliest in Ebola’s history, after the West African epidemic between 2014 and 2016, which claimed around 11,000 lives across several countries.
The rising number of infections and deaths, along with reports of cases in other African nations, has heightened fears of a wider regional outbreak.