The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has become the fastest spreading in the history of virus observations, according to Karl Skau, the acting head of the United Nations World Food Programme.
As of Friday, the Congo Ministry of Communications reported 3,532 registered cases of the disease, with approximately 1,556 fatalities. The World Health Organization (WHO) indicates that on average, every second infected person dies.
Second largest Ebola outbreak by number of cases
The current outbreak has also become the second largest in terms of cases in Ebola history. The only larger epidemic occurred from 2014 to 2016 in West Africa, which saw 28,616 cases reported in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.
The previous epidemic was caused by the Zaire variant of the virus, while the current outbreak is linked to the Bundibugyo variant, for which there is no approved vaccine or treatment available.
Source: NRC
