Ebola spreads to new province in DR Congo
A case was confirmed in Sud-Ubangi, which does not border any of the six provinces where Ebola cases had previously been confirmed.
The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has extended to the previously unaffected province of Sud-Ubangi, local authorities announced on Thursday. Assistant Governor Jean-Rene Galekwa Vundawe confirmed that tests had identified the Bundibugyo ebolavirus in a sample, leading to the declaration of an outbreak in the region.
Sud-Ubangi, which does not share borders with the six provinces already impacted by the current Ebola outbreak, reported no known epidemiological connection to the existing cases. Authorities are working to bolster surveillance, provide patient treatment, and break transmission chains. As of September 8, the DRC had recorded a total of 6,843 confirmed Ebola cases, with 3,310 deaths and 1,611 recoveries, resulting in a case fatality rate of 48.4%.
This outbreak, declared in May, is the country's largest and deadliest Ebola epidemic on record, and the second-largest globally, surpassed only by the 2014-2016 West African Ebola epidemic.
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