Confirmed Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have passed 10,000. Data released on Tuesday by the DRC's Ministry of Public Health put confirmed cases at 10,060 and deaths at 4,887, meaning nearly half of those infected have died.
It is the fastest-growing and deadliest Ebola outbreak in the country's history. With cases also rising abroad, the wider outbreak is now the second-largest on record, behind only the 2014-2016 West African epidemic, which infected 28,600 people and killed more than 11,000.
The outbreak, declared on May 15, is driven by the Bundibugyo virus, a rare Ebola strain with no approved vaccine or treatment. The World Health Organization announced on Friday that the first clinical trial of a vaccine had begun. About 80 per cent of new cases are emerging outside the transmission chains authorities are tracking, while the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention says at least 95 per cent must come from known contacts before the outbreak can be called under control.
Health system under strain
Cases have now been recorded in 66 health zones across eight provinces, up from three in the first days. Responders say some treatment centres are overwhelmed and remote areas lack supplies and staff. At least half of those who died were never admitted for treatment. On Saturday, a nurse was killed while responding to a suspected case in Bafwasende, Tshopo province.
The virus has also crossed borders. Kenya has nine confirmed cases, two of them fatal, and Nigeria has become the fourth African country affected. Uganda now requires citizens returning from the DRC to quarantine for 21 days at their own expense.