KINSHASA — The death toll in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Ebola outbreak has passed 5,000, according to the latest report from the country’s public health institute, as confirmed cases topped 10,000 this week.
“No one is safe today,” Dr Jean Kaseya, director-general of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, said in an interview, warning of “massive” spread into more countries and even other continents without more international support, CBC News reported.
The outbreak, caused by the Bundibugyo strain, for which there is no approved treatment or vaccine, is Congo’s largest ever and the second-largest Ebola outbreak on record, behind only the 2014–2016 West Africa epidemic, which infected more than 28,000 people.
Cases have also appeared in Uganda, Kenya and Nigeria. Kaseya said that if the outbreak continues at its current pace, “in one year we’ll have more than what West Africa had in two years and a half.”
Sources: CBC News, Africa CDC
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