The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has become the deadliest in the country’s history, with 2,325 people killed since the outbreak was declared on May 15.
The country’s Institute of Public Health says 4,945 confirmed cases have been recorded, including 101 new cases in the 24 hours before Sunday.
The virus has spread to six of the country’s 26 provinces.
The outbreak, caused by the rare Bundibugyo species of Ebola, is also spreading at an unusually rapid rate.
United Nations humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher said last week that the epidemic was killing about one person every 30 minutes.
The World Health Organisation says it hopes to bring transmission under control within three months, although it warned this would not necessarily mean the outbreak had ended.
There is currently no approved vaccine for the Bundibugyo species, but several are in development.
The United Kingdom’s medicines regulator has approved human trials of a vaccine being developed by the University of Oxford using technology similar to the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.
Health authorities are also conducting trials in DR Congo to determine whether existing antiviral treatments can improve survival rates.
The current outbreak is the 17th Ebola outbreak recorded in DR Congo since the virus was discovered 50 years ago. Conflict, population movement and limited resources have made efforts to contain the disease more difficult.
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