The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) has become the second-largest on record, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned Wednesday.
Speaking at a press briefing in Geneva, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus cautioned that if the present rate of transmission continues, the outbreak could surpass the West African Ebola outbreak of 2014 to 2016, the deadliest in history.
"It's already the second-biggest Ebola epidemic on record, and it's moving faster than any previous Ebola outbreak. Officially, 4,449 confirmed cases have been reported, with 2,061 deaths across five provinces and 53 health zones," Tedros said.
The latest figures released Wednesday by the DR Congo's public health authorities showed that the overall case fatality rate stood at 46.3 percent. A total of 716 patients remain in isolation or hospital care, while 886 people have recovered.
Tedros said the outbreak had gained a significant head start before it was detected and that response efforts were still struggling to catch up.
About 90 percent of all confirmed cases and 80 percent of deaths have been reported in Ituri province, where sustained transmission continues, according to the WHO.
Tedros said a high proportion of deaths continue to occur in communities rather than treatment centers, while many cases are being detected outside known contact lists, indicating that transmission chains remain unidentified.
"With partners, we're mapping and pooling resources to strengthen community-based surveillance to bring every suspected case into care and reach the 95 percent contact tracing target needed to interrupt transmission," he said.
DR Congo Ebola outbreak second-largest on record: WHO
