MOSCOW, Russia: The current Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is the largest in history in terms of the number of confirmed cases during the first month, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Tuesday, reported Sputnik/RIA Novosti.
On Tuesday, the DRC Government said that the death toll from Ebola had reached 267, with the number of confirmed cases increased to 1,048 people.
The current fatality rate exceeds 25 per cent.
“The outbreak continues to expand. This is the largest number of confirmed cases in the first month of Ebola disease outbreak in Africa,” Director of WHO Health Emergency Alert and Response Operations, Abdirahman Mahamud, told a briefing in Geneva.
He added that epidemiological surveillance in the DRC needs to be scaled up, including in areas where cases have not yet been reported.
Moreover, Mahamud added that 84 per cent of hospital beds are occupied.
He also added that the goal is to ensure that the outbreak does not disrupt the entire health system of the country and to provide “healthcare beyond Ebola”.
In May, the WHO classified the Ebola outbreak in the DRC and Uganda as an emergency posing a risk to other countries.
The organisation assesses the regional risk of further spread as high. – BERNAMA-SPUTNIK/RIA Novosti
