DRC Ebola outbreak spreads faster than previous epidemics, Africa CDC reports

As of July 7, 600 deaths out of 1,759 confirmed cases have been recorded in the DRC since the current epidemic began, the World Health Organization WHO stated. The WHO also noted that the toll remains stable in neighboring Uganda, with two deaths for 20 confirmed cases. The Ebola virus, which is transmitted through contact with bodily fluids of living or deceased individuals and causes hemorrhagic fever, has claimed over 15,000 lives in Africa in the past 50 years.

The deadliest outbreak in the DRC, between 2018 and 2020, resulted in nearly 2,300 deaths among 3,500 recorded cases. Dr. Wessam Mankoula, Africa CDC Emergency Situations Manager, stated that the virus continues to outpace response efforts, spreading faster than resources can be deployed to control the situation. He noted that this is the fastest-spreading Ebola epidemic ever recorded, not just among Bundibugyo virus outbreaks, but across all types of Ebola-causing viruses.

During the first six weeks of the current epidemic, 1,596 cases were recorded, compared to 994 during the first six weeks of the West African epidemic between late 2013 and 2016. That West African epidemic, the deadliest in history, caused over 11,300 deaths out of approximately 29,000 recorded cases, with over 99% occurring in Gu