File photo for representational purposes only.
Kinshasa: The fastest-spreading Ebola outbreak in history has spread to two new health zones in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, bringing the total number of affected zones to 60.
Data released today by the Congolese Ministry of Health showed that the two newly affected areas were Biena and Manguredjipa in North Kivu province, where the fatality rate among those infected with the virus is higher than the overall rate of 48 percent, partly due to delays in response efforts.
The ministry said the outbreak has so far recorded 5,794 confirmed cases, including 2,786 deaths, while the virus is spreading at an unprecedented pace that is outstripping efforts to track and contain its transmission.
The virus is spreading amid extremely difficult conditions, including insecurity, displacement, strikes by healthcare workers and extensive population movements.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo began vaccinating healthcare workers and other frontline personnel yesterday, Thursday, with the Ervebo vaccine, which has proved effective in previous Ebola outbreaks caused by another, more common strain of the virus. Clinical trials are continuing in efforts to develop a licensed vaccine for the current outbreak.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said two days ago that the outbreak remained out of control and was on a trajectory that could see it surpass the 2014-2016 West Africa Ebola outbreak, which remains the deadliest on record after claiming more than 11,000 lives, mostly in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
