More than 6,000 cases have now been confirmed in an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, with the fatality rate climbing above 48 percent, according to the latest data from Congolese authorities. Declared on May 15 in the remote northeastern province of Ituri, the outbreak has since reached six provinces, many of them marked by insecurity and little to no effective state control.
The outbreak is being driven by the Bundibugyo ebolavirus species, which has no approved vaccine or treatment. “Two new vaccines against the Bundibugyo virus are now in safety trials in the UK and Canada,” World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
