The death toll from the Ebola outbreak ravaging the Democratic Republic of Congo has reached 600, the World Health Organization announced Thursday, a grim milestone reached barely three days after fatalities surpassed the 500 mark.
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According to updated figures released by the UN health agency, the DR Congo has recorded 1,759 confirmed cases since health authorities declared the outbreak in mid-May, with 600 of those cases proving fatal.
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The virus has also crossed into neighbouring Uganda, where two deaths have been recorded among 20 confirmed cases. Encouragingly, 17 Ugandan patients have since recovered.
Data compiled by the WHO from DR Congo’s health authorities puts the outbreak’s case fatality rate at 34 percent — underscoring the severity of the current epidemic. So far, 285 patients in the country have recovered, while a further 304 suspected cases remain under investigation.
The outbreak, concentrated in the northeastern part of the country, has spread across four provinces but remains centred in Ituri province.
Health officials say the epidemic is being driven by the rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, a variant for which no vaccines or treatments have yet received formal approval.
In response, a clinical trial testing two experimental treatments got underway in the DR Congo on July 2. The trial is assessing the monoclonal antibody MBP134 and the antiviral drug remdesivir, both individually and in combination, in hopes of finding an effective therapy against this particular strain.
Ebola is transmitted through close contact with infected individuals or exposure to their bodily fluids.
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