The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has now killed 2,325 people, making it the country’s deadliest outbreak of the virus, according to government figures released Monday.
The deaths were recorded from 4,945 confirmed cases, surpassing the 2018-2020 outbreak that claimed 2,299 lives from 3,381 confirmed cases. The United Nations says the current outbreak is “the fastest-growing on record” and is killing a victim every 30 minutes in the DRC.
The deadliest Ebola outbreak ever hit West Africa in 2013-2016, killing more than 11,300 people, mainly in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.
The DRC outbreak began in the conflict-scarred northeastern province of Ituri and has since spread to five other provinces in the sprawling central African country of more than 100 million people.
Declared on May 15, the outbreak is thought to have already been spreading for several weeks at that point, and is the DRC’s 17th Ebola outbreak.
The World Health Organization last week said it hoped to reverse the spread of the disease in the country within three months.
Ebola, which spreads through contact with bodily fluids and causes a haemorrhagic fever, has killed more than 15,000 people in Africa over the past 50 years.
