The Democratic Republic of Congo's Ebola outbreak has claimed over 4,000 lives, with government figures released Friday showing 4,018 deaths and 8,300 confirmed cases of the Bundibugyo species across seven provinces. The epidemic is now the worst in the country's history, surpassing the 2018-2020 outbreak. More than 2,000 patients have recovered since the outbreak began.
Globally, the outbreak ranks as the second largest and deadliest Ebola epidemic. It is exceeded only by the 2014-2016 West African outbreak, which infected over 28,600 people and resulted in more than 11,000 deaths across Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Transmission of the virus shows signs of slowing in some areas of Ituri province, where the outbreak initially began, according to assessments made last month by the Congo government and the United Nations. Despite localized improvements, the virus continues to spread rapidly across eastern Congo, including neighboring North Kivu province, where containment efforts face ongoing challenges.
South Ubangi province, situated in the country's northwest, became the seventh province to declare an outbreak last month following the death of a man who had traveled from eastern Congo.
