The death toll from the Ebola outbreak affecting five provinces in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has risen to 1,521, according to a bulletin released Thursday by the country's health authorities.
As of July 28, the DRC had recorded 3,442 confirmed cases, including 1,521 deaths and 615 recoveries, while 797 patients remained in isolation or were hospitalized, the bulletin said.
The case fatality rate stood at 44.2 percent, while 78.3 percent of identified contacts were under monitoring. Response operations are underway across the five affected provinces of Haut-Uele, Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu and Tshopo.
In Ituri, however, response efforts were disrupted by a strike involving medical workers demanding payment of two months of outstanding wages.
Neighboring Uganda, which declared the end of its Ebola outbreak earlier this week, has continued to provide support to Ituri, including ambulances and laboratory facilities for rapid testing.
On Wednesday, Uganda deployed mobile laboratories staffed by Ugandan medical personnel to Kasenyi, a border town on the shores of Lake Albert in Ituri Province, to facilitate the rapid screening of suspected Ebola cases.
Ebola death toll in DR Congo tops 1,500: official
Ebola death toll in DR Congo tops 1,500: official
