KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — The Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo has now spread to seven provinces in the country, local authorities said. It's the fastest-growing outbreak on record.
The governor of the northwestern province of Sud-Ubangi, Jean-Rene Galekwa Vundawe, said in a statement on Thursday that laboratory tests by Congo’s national research institute found in a sample the Bundibugyo virus, the rare kind of Ebola that caused the current outbreak.
Local media outlets reported the statement on Friday. Sud-Ubangi is the seventh province affected by the Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo.
As of Wednesday, 6,942 cases and 3,349 deaths have been reported, according to the latest government figures.
The World Health Organization has said the outbreak remains out of control and is on track to surpass the 2014-2016 West Africa Ebola outbreak, the deadliest on record, which killed more than 11,000 people, primarily in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
In recent weeks, new cases and deaths have declined in Ituri province, the outbreak’s epicenter, but risen sharply in neighboring North Kivu and Haut-Uele.
The outbreak is spreading under extremely difficult conditions, fueled by insecurity, displacement, a health workers’ strike and intense population movements. The situation is particularly concerning at displacement sites, where residents already live in extremely precarious conditions.
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