Congo’s Ebola outbreak tops 10,000 cases as authorities race to slow the spread in African countries

The fast-moving Ebola outbreak in Congo has reached 10,000 confirmed cases, government data showed Tuesday, as health authorities race to slow the spread of the disease in multiple African countries.

It is the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak in history and nearly half of the 10,060 confirmed to have the virus have died, according to data from Congo’s Ministry of Health. That also makes it the deadliest outbreak of the disease in the country’s history.

The outbreak declared in May is caused by the rare Bundibugyo virus, for which there is no approved vaccine or treatment. Response teams are battling armed conflict, poor roads and violence from residents fueled by mistrust and misinformation. Those obstacles compound the challenge of persuading people to report symptoms and accept care in communities that have endured years of violence and repeated epidemics.

Compared to the West Africa Ebola outbreak of 2014-2016 — history’s largest and deadliest with more than 28,000 cases, including over 11,000 deaths — this has had at least three times the number of cases and number of deaths in the time since it was declared.

It has spread farther across Africa than any previous Ebola outbreak, reaching three regions with cases recorded in…

Original source: https://www.nbcnews.com/health