The current Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo could reach an unprecedented scale, the World Health Organisation has warned.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the epidemic was spreading at record speed. He described it as already the second-largest Ebola outbreak on record and faster-moving than any previous one. He said the outbreak was on course to surpass the West African epidemic of 2014 to 2016. During that crisis, more than 28,600 people were infected, and more than 11,300 died.
According to the latest WHO figures, about 4,400 people in Congo have been infected in the current outbreak. More than 2,000 people have died.
Speaking at a press conference in Geneva, Tedros said it was deeply worrying that too few contacts of infected people were being traced and monitored. “The outbreak had a big head start and is still far ahead of us,” he said. “We are now trying to catch up.”
