USS Abraham Lincoln crew visits Thailand’s Pattaya, in photos

LAEM CHABANG (AP) — The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier docked at a port in eastern Thailand on Wednesday after its grueling deployment in the Middle East.

Boats float on Pattaya Beach in Thailand, on Aug. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Tourists stroll down Walking Street in Pattaya, Thailand, on Aug. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

American service members of the USS Abraham Lincoln strike group arrive at a hotel in Pattaya, Thailand, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Tug boats greet the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln as it arrives at the port in Laem Chabang, Chonburi, Thailand, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln arrives at the port in Laem Chabang, Chonburi, Thailand, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

American service members of the USS Abraham Lincoln strike group arrive at a hotel in Pattaya, Thailand, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln arrives at the port in Laem Chabang, Chonburi, Thailand, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Customers of a restaurant sit under a banner in Pattaya, Thailand, on Sept. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Pattaya City's Mayor Poramet Ngampichet gifts souvenirs to American service members from the USS Abraham Lincoln strike group at hotel in Pattaya, Thailand, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Navy personnel walk on the deck of the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln as it arrives at the port in Laem Chabang, Chonburi, Thailand, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln arrives at the port in Laem Chabang, Chonburi, Thailand, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln arrives at the port in Laem Chabang, Chonburi, Thailand, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

BUNIA, Congo (AP) — Congo’s Ebola outbreak has killed more than 3,000 people out of over 6,100 confirmed cases, the latest government data showed Wednesday, as the disease is spreading at an unprecedented speed, faster than efforts to track and slow it.

Data from Congo’s Ministry of Health showed the outbreak has recorded 6,186 confirmed cases, including 3,007 deaths since it was declared a global health emergency in mid-May. It remains the fastest-growing outbreak of Ebola ever.

Recent weeks have witnessed a surge in cases, with two new health zones affected last week in North Kivu, where the fatality rate is much higher than in the rest of the affected provinces. The virus has spread to six provinces.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control said Tuesday in a report that the efforts to contain the virus “remained below established response targets” and the fast expansion of the disease across many health zones indicates “uncontrolled expansion of the outbreak.”

Health workers are struggling under difficult conditions and have gone on strike multiple times to demand their pay.

The disease has continued to spread rapidly for several reasons, including conflict in the eastern region of the country where the outbreak is concentrated, attacks on health workers, miners constantly on the move, and inadequate health infrastructure.

The resumption of school in the middle of the outbreak has also raised concerns about transmission in classrooms.

The World Health Organization said the outbreak is on track to exceed the deadliest on record, West Africa's regional outbreak between 2014 and 2016, which killed 11,000 people.

The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the outbreak is possibly three times larger than the number of cases recorded, as surveillance and contact tracing are still weak. Despite that, the outbreak has already become Congo's deadliest Ebola outbreak.

There is no vaccine or approved treatment for the rare Bundibugyo virus that has sparked the current outbreak. A couple of vaccines are currently being developed to tackle the disease.

Last week, the government started the distribution of the Ervebo vaccine to front line health workers in Kisangani in the northeastern Tshopo region. Ervebo has helped combat previous Ebola disease outbreaks and the WHO said it could offer some protection.

A school official checks students' temperatures as they enter school, on the first day of the new school year amid the Ebola virus outbreak, in Ituri, Congo, Tuesday, Sept.1, 2026. (AP Photo/Dieudonne Dirole)

People dressed in protective gear lower into a grave the coffin containing the remains of Jeannine Katusabe, who died of Ebola, during a burial service in Bunia, Ituri province, eastern Congo, Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Dieudonne Dirole)