WHO: Ebola outbreak could be worst ever

 

TT-AP

 

Published 18.13 

  

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in a picture taken on August 5. Photo: WHO /AP/TT

The Ebola outbreak in Congo-Kinshasa is on track to be the worst ever, warns the World Health Organization WHO.

So far, more than 2,000 people have died from the infection. A total of 4,300 cases have been confirmed. There is a risk that the epidemic will surpass the largest recorded Ebola outbreak to date, which claimed the lives of more than 11,000 people.

– At the current rate, it is on track to exceed the Ebola outbreak in West Africa from 2014 to 2016, says WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

The epidemic in Congo-Kinshasa started in February according to the WHO's latest assessment and is considered the fastest growing in history. It is unlike most previous Ebola outbreaks because it is linked to the Bundibugyo variant of the virus, for which there is no approved vaccine or treatment.

Experts say the outbreak, mainly in the eastern part of the country, is spreading faster than the ability to track and contain it.