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More than 2,000 people have died of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) since its outbreak was declared fewer than three months ago.
Al Jazeera, citing official government data, reported that at least 1,000 of the deaths have occurred in the last three weeks as the virus continues to spread at an alarming rate. A total of 4,381 Ebola cases across five provinces of the DRC have been confirmed as of Tuesday, including 2,011 deaths.
This marks the fastest-growing outbreak on record in the Central African country and stands second in size only to the West African outbreak from 2014 to 2016, during which 11,310 people died, Al Jazeera reported.
The rapid acceleration of the epidemic has prompted urgent appeals from international officials. Julien Harneis, designated Senior Ebola Coordinator by the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, highlighted the rising human toll on X:
"Today the Ebola epidemic surpassed 2,000 deaths, half of these in the last 20 days. 2,000 children, mothers, fathers. All of us in the response, aid workers, organisations, governments, donors, with the community, must do more, and do it today, to save lives and stop Ebola."
To reinforce frontline infrastructure, the World Health Organization (WHO) has announced that expansion of a WHO-built treatment centre is underway in Lita, doubling its original 40-bed capacity to 80 beds. The effort is supported by the Ministry of Health alongside humanitarian partners, including UNICEF, ALIMA, the World Food Programme (WFP), and MONUSCO. -- ANI
