Current Ebola outbreak on track to be deadliest with 2,000 deaths recorded: WHO chief

The World Health Organisation (WHO) chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, declared that the current Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is on track to become the deadliest in history. As of August 12, the outbreak has recorded at least 4,665 cases and caused over 2,184 deaths, resulting in a crude case fatality rate of 46.8 percent.

Tedros noted that the outbreak, which began in February and was officially declared in May, is advancing faster than expected. While WHO hopes to reverse the spread of the disease within three months, they acknowledge that this goal is focused on controlling transmission rather than eradicating the virus.

The outbreak is caused by a rare strain of Ebola known as Bundibugyo, which has previously resulted in two known outbreaks in 2007 and 2012. However, unlike previous outbreaks, there are currently no approved vaccines or recognized therapeutic drugs for treating Bundibugyo virus disease (BVD).

The WHO Africa director, Mohamed Janabi, expressed the urgency of the situation, stating that "we are chasing the virus, the virus is ahead of us." Research has shown that the virus initially spread in February and was mistakenly diagnosed as malaria or typhoid at the time.

One of the major challenges in controlling the outbreak is the lack of access to affected areas due to regional instability in the eastern part of the DRC. Health workers have only been able to reach around 30 percent of the total cases. Ebola symptoms for BVD typically appear two to 21 days after exposure, with infected individuals becoming infectious only when symptoms develop.

Initial signs include fever, fatigue, muscle pain, headache, and sore throat, followed by gastrointestinal symptoms, organ dysfunction, and in some cases, bleeding.