Ebola outbreak in Africa exceeds 10,000 cases: nearly 5,000 dead, most in the DRC

The scale of the outbreak

The latest Ebola outbreak in Africa has surpassed 10,000 confirmed cases, the overwhelming majority of them in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. According to Congolese health authorities, 10,060 people have been infected and 4,887 have died since the virus was first detected in May. The Congolese National Institute of Public Health estimates the fatality rate at roughly 50%, with about 2,684 people recovered. It is the deadliest outbreak in the country's history, AFP reports.

Spread beyond the Congo

Cases have also been recorded in Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda; the WHO warns that Africa faces a 'complex' task of containing an outbreak that has swept across the east, west and centre of the continent. Uganda has registered 20 cases and two deaths — at the end of August the WHO declared the country Ebola-free. Kenya reported no cases until 6 October, then recorded nine cases and two deaths; most of those infected had recently visited the DRC. The only confirmed case in Nigeria is a 42-year-old Swiss citizen who became infected after travelling to Uganda with her husband; on Monday she was evacuated to a hospital in Geneva. Nigerian medics identified 53 people who had contact with the patient. According to the WHO, the wife of an employee of the Swiss embassy in Abuja developed symptoms on 7 October, sought help on the 11th, and received a positive test for the Bundibugyo strain on 20 October. Some experts fear that the virus, which spreads through contact with bodily fluids, may have spread after the couple returned to Nigeria on 3 October. A Ugandan government spokesperson rejected the suggestion that the woman was infected on that country's territory.

Response challenges

The virus spread unnoticed for several weeks before being detected in the north-eastern province of Ituri — the 17th Ebola outbreak in the DRC. Most cases are in Ituri and the eastern province of North Kivu, which is partly controlled by the Rwanda-backed M23 group; the region suffers from violence by armed groups and low trust in the state, which complicates the fight against the epidemic. Public distrust has already led to tragedy: on Saturday in the north-eastern province of Tshopo, according to the WHO, a nurse was killed and a health worker seriously injured. Marcel Likolo, chief physician of the Bafwasende district, told AFP that local youths accused them of trying to infect residents with pills; the Ebola treatment centre where the incident occurred has closed. The main problem remains the lack of approved vaccines and treatments for the rare Bundibugyo virus species that caused the epidemic. In recent weeks, trials of the Ervebo vaccine, already proven effective against the more common Zaire strain, have begun to determine whether it also protects against the Bundibugyo variant. Since first appearing half a century ago, Ebola has claimed more than 15,000 lives in Africa.