‘Fastest rising’ Ebola outbreak in virus’ historical past claims 1,500 lives in a couple of months
More than 1,500 people have died after a virus strain with no known vaccine has shaken a country. Experts are currently scrambling to find a vaccine against the deadly virus strain
The virus has claimed the lives of more than 1,500 people(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
A strain of a deadly virus has claimed the lives of more than 1,500 people in a matter of months. Health experts have stated the strain has produced the “fastest growing” outbreak they have seen of the illness.
The recent outbreak of Ebola to hit the Democratic Republic of Congo has been dubbed the fastest growing in the known history of the virus. The Bundibugyo strain of the virus is responsible for the recent outbreak which has a staggering 45% fatality rate, according to Congolese health officials.
Currently there has been 3,360 confirmed cases of the disease recorded as the outbreak has hit people across five provinces in the east of the DRC. Since Congolese authorities declared the virus outbreak 15 May the strain has spread faster than the country’s previous 16 Ebola outbreaks.
The strain responsible for the outbreak does not have a vaccine (Image: AFP via Getty Images)
The death toll record in this outbreak of the virus is now starting to approach numbers seen in the country’s worst Ebola outbreak back in 2018-2020. The previous 2018-2020 claimed the lives of a staggering 2,287 people in the country. WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has warned the response to the outbreak has not been fast enough.” The WHO boss stated: “Despite the progress we have made, the outbreak in DRC is continuing to outpace the response.”
He added: “Intense transmission in the province of Ituri remains our biggest concern.”
Ituri has been singled out as a serious area of concern (Image: DIEUDONNE DIROLE/EPA/Shutterstock)
Deborah Nzuva, a mother of four who lives Ituri has spoken of the grim reality on the ground. The mother stated: “I fear that at some point, life may come to a standstill here in our province of Ituri.”
The woman added: “We were already in a precarious situation before the Ebola virus disease, which continues to claim its victims.”
Prof Pierre Akilimali, from the DRC public health institute (NPHI), is in charge of the Ebola response has pulled back the lid on the various reasons the outbreak has been difficult to tackle.
The health boffin stated: “Here in Ituri, we have the issues of insecurity, mining and high population density, which make the current outbreak more complex than previous ones.”
The Ebola outbreak in DRC is the fastest growing in the history of the virus as 1,500 people are already dead(Image: World Health Organisation )
It is understood two-thirds of the deaths are hitting people who never received care in a health facility. Because of the lack of care infection rates are being driven up due people not being protected when handling infected bodies.
Experts are currently scrambling to find a vaccine for the Bundibugyo strain. Trials for a vaccine against the virus strain began back in July. However, according to Professor Placide Mbala, head of laboratory operations for the Ebola response in the DRC, these trials could last for up to four months.
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