The Ebola outbreak in Africa has caused 5,376 deaths, including 5,372 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), according to data from the African Union’s health agency, Africa CDC, shared with Agence France-Presse on Monday, November 2. A total of 10,444 cases have been reported, putting the fatality rate above 50 percent.
The DRC officially declared the outbreak on May 15. Specialists now believe the virus had returned to the country several months earlier but was detected only later. The DRC, which has more than 100 million inhabitants, remains the epicenter of the epidemic.
Ebola spreads through contact with bodily fluids and can cause severe hemorrhagic fever. More than 15,000 people have died from the disease in Africa over the past 50 years. The DRC’s previous worst outbreak, between 2018 and 2020, recorded nearly 2,300 deaths among approximately 3,500 patients.
The virus has crossed several borders in recent months. Uganda reported 20 cases and two deaths before declaring the outbreak eradicated from its territory in August. Kenya recorded nine cases and two deaths in October. Nigeria also reported a case that month involving a 42-year-old Swiss woman who had travelled to Uganda with her husband before returning to the country.
In the DRC, the response is facing limited resources in remote affected areas, where the presence of armed groups makes travel more difficult. Health workers and humanitarian staff have also encountered mistrust among local communities, leading to several incidents in recent months.
The current outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, for which no vaccine or approved treatment is currently available. Doses of the Ervebo vaccine, whose effectiveness has been demonstrated against the Zaire strain, have recently been given to volunteers in the DRC as part of a clinical trial.
Sources: Le Monde International.