Ebola cases in Congo top 3,200, nearing record of the country's worst outbreak

What the report says

Yahoo Entertainment, carrying an Associated Press report from Bunia, Congo, reported that confirmed infections in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s current Ebola outbreak have risen to 3,262, according to an overnight update from the country’s Ministry of Health. The ministry’s figures listed 1,437 deaths, with the outbreak concentrated in eastern Ituri province. The tally is now close to Congo’s 2018-2020 Ebola outbreak, which the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says involved more than 3,400 cases and over 2,200 deaths in Congo and neighboring Uganda.

The report said officials have described the present outbreak as the fastest Ebola outbreak on record. It was declared on May 15, meaning the country has approached the case count of a roughly two-year outbreak in about 10 weeks. The AP also noted that only the 2014-2016 West Africa epidemic was larger globally, with about 28,000 cases and more than 11,000 deaths.

Response efforts are being complicated by insecurity, public anger and labor disputes. The AP reported that some areas are difficult to reach because of rebel violence, displacement tied to armed conflict and illegal mining, and safety concerns after attacks by residents. Health workers have also protested over unpaid wages, including at an Ebola treatment center in Bunia. Officials still have not identified the first patient, making contact tracing harder.

The outbreak is also notable because the Bundibugyo virus causing it has no approved vaccines or treatments, according to the report. Yahoo/AP said there are some signs of improved community cooperation in affected areas. Uganda, which said its cases were imported from Congo, declared its own Ebola outbreak over after its last patient was discharged in mid-June.