Ebola cases in DR Congo pass 11,000, with 5,387 deaths

The number of confirmed Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has reached 11,042, according to government data, with at least 5,387 deaths.

The figures, released on Tuesday, came as health authorities in the DRC struggle to contain the largest and deadliest Ebola outbreak in the country's history.

The outbreak is caused by the rare Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus.

It is now the second-largest and second-deadliest Ebola outbreak on record, behind only the 2014-2016 West African outbreak. That epidemic infected more than 28,600 people and killed more than 11,000.

Eight of the DRC's 26 provinces have been affected in the ongoing outbreak, and many deaths have occurred outside treatment centres.

Delayed detection, conflict and strained health services have led to a more rapid spread of the virus than in previous outbreaks.

Containment has been especially difficult because no vaccine or treatment has been developed specifically for the Bundibugyo strain, which kills about half of the people it infects.

Earlier this month, the World Health Organization approved clinical trials of two new Ebola vaccines and said it expected results in early 2027.

Cases have now been reported in East, Central and West Africa, giving it the widest geographic spread of any Ebola outbreak on the continent to date.