The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned that the ongoing Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has become the largest ever recorded, with more than 1,400 confirmed cases and over 400 deaths.
The WHO Regional Director for Africa, Mohamed Janabi, disclosed this on Friday during an online media briefing on the Ebola situation in the DRC and Uganda.
Mr Janabi described the outbreak as one of Africa’s most serious public health emergencies this year and called for sustained international support to bring the virus under control.
Despite the rising number of infections, he said response efforts have recorded encouraging progress through stronger surveillance, improved contact tracing, earlier case detection and increasing patient recoveries.
According to him, transmission remains concentrated in a small number of hotspots, although weekly infections have reached their highest levels since the outbreak began, highlighting the need for intensified response measures.
