The death toll from the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has risen to 4,018, with 8,300 confirmed cases recorded across seven provinces.
‎
‎The figures were contained in data released by the Congolese government on Friday as health authorities intensify efforts to contain the outbreak.
‎The outbreak, caused by the Bundibugyo species of Ebola, is the largest and deadliest recorded in the DRC, surpassing the 2018–2020 outbreaks.
‎
‎More than 2,000 patients have recovered from the disease, according to the government figures.
‎
‎The outbreak is currently the second deadliest Ebola epidemic on record, after the 2014-2016 West African outbreak, which recorded more than 28,600 infections and over 11,000 deaths in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
‎
‎The Congolese government and the United Nations said last month that transmission had begun to slow in some parts of Ituri Province, where the outbreak started.
‎
‎However, the latest government data showed that the virus was still spreading rapidly in eastern DRC, including neighbouring North Kivu Province.
‎
‎South Ubangi Province in north-western DRC became the seventh province affected last month after a man who had travelled from eastern DRC died from the virus.
‎
‎The rising figures underscore the difficulties facing health authorities as they work to contain the outbreak across the affected provinces.
‎
‎(Reuters/NAN)
‎
‎