The number of confirmed Ebola cases has exceeded 11,000 in Congo, health officials in the country said on Nov. 10.
Congo’s National Institute of Public Health said in a statement that there have been 11,042 confirmed cases and 5,387 deaths as a result of Ebola.
That represents a case fatality rate of 48.8 percent.
Eight provinces—Haut-Uélé, Ituri, Nord-Kivu, Sud-Kivu, Tshopo, Bas-Uélé, Sud Ubangi, and Nord Ubangi—are affected, and the disease has affected 67 of the province’s 178 health zones.
Delayed detection, conflict, and strained health services have led to a more rapid spread of the virus in Congo than in previous outbreaks. Many of the deaths occurred outside of treatment centers.
The current outbreak is caused by the rare Bundibugyo ebolavirus and was detected in mid-May in Congo, which has dealt with more than a dozen Ebola outbreaks in the past.
It has become the deadliest outbreak in Congo’s history, surpassing the 2018–2020 epidemic, in which 2,299 people died.
Additional cases were confirmed in Nigeria and Kenya last month.
Across Africa, this epidemic is now second only to the 2014–2016 West African outbreak, which infected at least 28,600 people and killed more than 11,000 across Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.
No Sign of Decline
The World Health Organization (WHO) for the Africa Region said that as of Nov. 7, the Bundibugyo ebolavirus outbreak in Congo “continues at a high, sustained level of transmission, with no sign of decline.”
In Congo, unrest in Nord-Kivu and Tshopo, strikes among health workers in Bas-Uélé and Tshopo, and response suspension in Bafwasende after a violent incident in October have strained healthcare workers’ response to the outbreak.
WHO for the Africa Region said that the importation of ebola in Kenya and Nigeria remains contained.
It said that since Oct. 19, no new cases have been reported in Kenya, and no secondary cases have been identified in Nigeria, where contact monitoring is expected to end on Nov. 13. The patient who last came in contact with the disease in Kenya ended the monitoring period on Nov. 11.
Last Kenyan Ebola Patient Discharged
Kenyan Health Minister Aden Duale said on Nov. 11 that the last Ebola patient had been discharged, starting the 42-day countdown to when Kenya can be declared Ebola-free.
Since early October, Kenyan authorities reported nine Ebola cases after a Kenyan man tested positive for the disease. He died after arriving from Congo.
Eight confirmed cases were contacts of the index case. Seven of those recovered, and one died.
Duale said that citizens arriving from Congo will now have to undergo a 21-day quarantine.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, people can contract Ebola if broken skin or mucous membranes in the eyes, nose, or mouth come in contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person or contaminated objects.
Ebola does not spread through the air like respiratory viruses such as influenza; a person cannot become infected by being near someone with the disease.
Reuters contributed to this report.
