The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that half of the 2,500 deaths recorded due to Ebola fever in the Democratic Republic of Congo occurred in just the past 20 days.
The same sources indicated a significant acceleration of the epidemic and the spread of the outbreak to an area larger than France.
“The epidemic is expanding enormously, and today covers a larger area than France, and half of the 2,500 deaths have occurred in the last 20 days,” said the UNHCR representative in Congo, Julien Harneis, during a media briefing in Geneva.
He pointed out that containing the outbreak urgently requires additional resources, especially since the region has been experiencing armed conflict for 30 years, making the humanitarian needs there "enormous".
The National Institute of Public Health in Congo announced on Thursday that the number of confirmed cases had risen to 5,208, and deaths to 2,476. This outbreak, which was declared on May 15, differs from most previous outbreaks because it is caused by a new strain of the virus called "Bundibugyo," for which there are no approved vaccines or treatments yet.
