Health authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) said on Tuesday that an outbreak of a particularly virulent strain of the Bundibugyo Ebola virus currently raging in the east and northeast of the country has killed more than 2,000 people since the first case was confirmed.
In all, more than 4,380 infections have been recorded.
The current outbreak is the 17th ever recorded in the DRC, with Sania Nishtar of the Gavi global vaccine alliance warning it could become "the largest outbreak ever."
Until now, the worst outbreak recorded in the DRC was the one that took place from 2018 to 2020 when some 3,500 infections led to 2,300 deaths.
The pace of death is gathering momentum this time around, with the virus spreading faster and exhibiting a higher mortality rate than the 2014-2016 West African outbreak — the worst outbreak on record, which logged 28,000 infections and more than 11,000 deaths.
