Ebola Outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo: 4 Thousand 114 Lives Loss

The Ministry of Communications and Media of the Democratic Republic of Congo has published updated data on the Ebola epidemic.

Accordingly, 8 thousand 544 confirmed cases were recorded in the epidemic and 4 thousand 114 people died.

While 2,230 people have recovered since the beginning of the epidemic, 17 people have recovered in the last 24 hours.

The death rate in the epidemic was updated to 48.2 percent.

Efforts to combat the epidemic continue in 64 regions of 7 states where the disease is detected.

Ebola caused thousands of deaths in Africa

The Ebola virus, which causes a type of hemorrhagic fever, first appeared in 1976 with simultaneous outbreaks in Nzara, Sudan, and Yambuku, DRC.

Since the epidemic in the DRC started in a village near the Ebola River, the disease was named after this river.

The Ebola virus spread in West Africa in December 2013. In the epidemic seen in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone between 2014 and 2017, 30 thousand people were infected with the virus and more than 11 thousand of the patients died.

An epidemic was declared in the country on May 15, following 246 suspected cases and 65 deaths announced in Ituri province in the east of the DRC.

According to health officials, there is no approved treatment or vaccine for the "Bundibugyo" Ebola variant that broke out in May.