NAIROBI/ABUJA - Africa's latest Ebola outbreak has killed 5,376 people, the vast majority in the Democratic Republic of Congo, making it the fastest-growing and most widespread Ebola epidemic on record, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
The outbreak, which began in the DRC in May, has infected more than 10,000 people with a fatality rate exceeding 50 percent, data from 31 October shows. Five thousand three hundred seventy-two deaths were recorded in the DRC, with two each in Kenya and Uganda.
Neighbouring Uganda recorded 20 cases, almost all involving people who had travelled from the DRC, before being declared Ebola-free in August. In October, Kenya recorded nine infections, marking the first time the country had reported an Ebola case. Nigeria reported a case involving a 42-year-old Swiss woman whose husband works at his country's embassy in Abuja; the couple had travelled to Uganda before returning home.
The outbreak is caused by the rare Bundibugyo virus, which has no approved vaccine or treatment. The virus is transmitted through contact with bodily fluids and causes haemorrhagic fever. In recent weeks, clinical trials of the Ervebo vaccine, which has proved effective against the more common Zaire strain of Ebola, have begun.
Health authorities continue to monitor the situation across affected regions as the outbreak persists as the most widespread Ebola epidemic ever documented.
