More than 5,290 people have been infected and 2,516 died since the outbreak of Ebola was declared in the Democratic Republic of Congo on May 15. Photo by Dieudonne Dirole/EPA
Aug. 23 (UPI) -- The ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is "growing exponentially," a senior United Nations official said Friday.
More than 5,290 people have been infected and 2,516 died since the outbreak was declared on May 15.
Half of all deaths occurred in the last 20 days, U.N. Senior Ebola Coordinator Julien Harneis said.
"The epidemic is spreading to an area that is bigger than France," Harneis told reporters in Bunia. "And the outbreak is growing faster and wider than the Ebola response."
