KINSHASA: Democratic Republic of Congo’s fast-spreading Ebola outbreak is now the world’s second-largest on record, government data showed on Friday, as transmission continues to outpace efforts to contain the epidemic.
The number of cases reported across Congo has risen to 3,532, the Communications Ministry said in a statement, with 1,556 deaths recorded.
“It’s the fastest-spreading Ebola epidemic that we have ever seen,” Carl Skau, acting head of the UN World Food Programme, said this week.
“The world needs to pay much more attention.”
Less than three months since the outbreak began, the disease has killed five times as many people as previous outbreaks had by the same stage, according to Africa’s top public health agency, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
