Ebola cases in Congo surpass 7,000 — Pajhwok

KABUL (Pajhwok): The number of confirmed Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has surpassed 7,000, with the disease spreading to another province, Reuters reported on Saturday. Government figures showed late Friday that the death toll had risen to 3,398, while confirmed cases reached 7,022 across seven provinces, Reuters reported. The outbreak, caused by the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, has become the largest and deadliest in the DRC’s history, surpassing the 2018-2020 outbreak. The current outbreak is the second-largest Ebola outbreak after the 2014-2016 epidemic in West Africa, which infected more than 28,600 people in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone and killed more than 11,000. Officials said earlier that an Ebola case had been detected in South Ubangi province in northwestern DRC, far from the epicentre of the outbreak. They said a 23-year-old man who died on Tuesday tested positive for the Bundibugyo strain. He left South Kivu province in eastern DRC on July 10 and, after spending some time abroad, returned to the country and travelled to South Ubangi. The province borders the Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic. According to the report, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said shortages of trained personnel, operational partners and funding were hampering efforts to scale up the Ebola response as the disease spreads to new areas.