WHO: Congo’s confirmed Ebola cases top 5,000, fatality rate nears 50%

More than 5,000 Ebola cases have now been confirmed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), according to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Regional Office for Africa.

Since May, 5,021 people have been confirmed as infected with the highly contagious disease, while 2,378 patients have died, corresponding to a case fatality rate of 47.4%.

More than 1,000 patients have recovered, according to Congolese health authorities.

The outbreak was declared in mid-May and marks the 17th recorded Ebola outbreak in the Central African country.

However, the WHO and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has warned that the true number of infections could be significantly higher.

Studies indicate that the outbreak may have begun as early as February, Africa CDC Director General Jean Kaseya said in his most recent assessment of the situation.

“We have no clue about what happened from February to May,” Kaseya said during a press briefing last week.

Nearly two-thirds of confirmed Ebola deaths are being recorded outside hospitals and isolation facilities, in villages and local communities, Africa CDC said.

As long as people with symptoms are not isolated, they can transmit the virus through contact with bodily fluids such as blood, sweat or saliva, including while caring for a patient or sharing food.

Outbreak could reach unprecedented scale

Ebola is a life-threatening disease. It can cause severe fever, diarrhoea and bleeding.

The current outbreak involves the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, for which there is currently no specific vaccine or treatment, making it particularly difficult to contain.

Clinical trials of two antiviral treatments have been under way since early July. Given the severity of the outbreak, authorities are also investigating whether the virus may have mutated.

The WHO has warned that the current outbreak in the DRC could reach an unprecedented scale.

The number of cases and deaths recorded so far is already several times higher than during the equivalent first three months of the previous worst Ebola outbreak in West Africa.