Kinshasa. The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is expected to exceed 4,000 confirmed cases this week, making it the fastest-spreading epidemic in the country's history since it was officially declared in May.
The outbreak is already the world's second-largest Ebola epidemic, behind the 2014–2016 West African outbreak that affected Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, where the World Health Organization (WHO) recorded more than 28,000 cases and 11,000 deaths.
Health experts attribute the rapid spread to delayed detection of the virus, overstretched surveillance systems, persistent armed conflict in eastern Congo, and the absence of licensed vaccines or proven treatments for the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, which is driving the current outbreak.
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