Deadliest Ebola outbreak in Congo's history keeps spreading
Health ministry counts 11,000 infections and 5,387 dead, no known vaccine or treatment exists for the Bundibugyo strain now in eight of 26 provinces
Images
Congo's Ebola outbreak tops 11,000 cases as disease keeps spreading
independent.co.uk
Congo's Ebola outbreak has passed 11,000 cases, according to the latest health ministry figures, released on Wednesday: 11,042 people infected, 5,387 dead. Nearly half of everyone who has caught the virus has died, making it the deadliest Ebola outbreak in the country's history.
The outbreak was declared in mid-May. Since then the virus has spread to eight of Congo's 26 provinces, and the disease keeps spreading. Congolese authorities have struggled to contain it, citing a series of factors including conflicts and a health system crisis.
The pathogen is the Bundibugyo virus. Containment therefore rests on the basic machinery of outbreak control — finding every infection, isolating the sick, burying the dead safely — work that depends on health workers reaching places the authorities say conflict has made difficult.
There is no known vaccine for the Bundibugyo strain, and no known treatment.