Health
DRC Ebola outbreak tops 5,500 cases as Pope Leo appeals for international aid
The country's deadliest Ebola outbreak has killed more than 2,600 people amid challenges from conflict and the use of an unapproved vaccine against the Bundibugyo strain.
The short version
- Confirmed cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo's latest Ebola outbreak reached 5,515, with 2,642 reported deaths.
- The outbreak involves the Bundibugyo strain, for which no specifically approved vaccine or treatment currently exists.
- Pope Leo and the World Health Organization have called for urgent international assistance and a multi-fold scale-up in containment resources.
- Containment remains complicated by ongoing regional armed conflict, attacks on medical facilities, and population displacement.
Key facts
- Government figures show the DRC Ebola outbreak has recorded 5,515 confirmed cases and 2,642 deaths, with the case fatality rate climbing to nearly 48 percent.[Al Jazeera]
- The epidemic is the DRC's 17th Ebola outbreak and has been declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern by the WHO.[Al Jazeera]
- Approximately 160 healthcare workers have contracted the virus, leading to about 45 deaths.[Al Jazeera]
- A shipment of 16,250 doses of the Ervebo vaccine arrived in the DRC out of 70,000 doses pledged by the WHO.[Al Jazeera]
- Contact tracing coverage has increased from 30 percent in June to more than 85 percent.[Al Jazeera]
What remains uncertain
- The degree of human efficacy provided by the Ervebo vaccine against the Bundibugyo strain remains unproven, relying primarily on preliminary animal trial data.[Al Jazeera]