Ebola outbreak spreads to sixth DR Congo province

KINSHASA: An Ebola outbreak that is on track to become the deadliest in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s history has spread to a sixth province, raising fears it could spill into South Sudan.

The outbreak, which began in the conflict-scarred northeastern province of Ituri, is already considered the largest ever in the unstable, vast central African country.

Declared on May 15, it is thought to have already been spreading for several weeks and is the DRC’s 17th Ebola outbreak.

The DRC’s deadliest Ebola outbreak from 2018 to 2020 killed nearly 2,300 people out of 3,500 recorded cases.

So far, authorities say the current outbreak has killed more than 2,128 people, out of 4,566 confirmed cases.

Until now, five Congolese provinces had been affected: Ituri, which borders Uganda and South Sudan, North Kivu and South Kivu, Haut-Uele and Tshopo.

A person has now died from the virus in northern Bas-Uele province after travelling from neighbouring Haut-Uele, Jean Kaseya, the head of Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), told reporters on Thursday (Aug 13).

The outbreak is spreading at an unprecedented rate, Africa CDC added.

Three months after it was declared, seven times more cases and five times more deaths were recorded in the DRC than during the first three months of the largest Ebola outbreak in history, which hit west Africa in 2014, Africa CDC said.