DR Congo Ebola outbreak remains uncontrolled

The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) remains uncontrolled despite a modest decline in infections nationwide, as transmission shifts geographically and spreads toward an international border, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported.



The country had recorded 7,733 confirmed cases, including 3,732 deaths as of Sunday, according to the WHO Regional Office for Africa.



The WHO warnd that the expansion was putting further pressure on already stretched response resources. The WHO also said the development heightened the potential for cross-border spread. The outbreak has now affected 63 health zones across seven provinces.



Pressure on treatment facilities remains acute in North Kivu province, where standardized Ebola treatment structures were 91.2 percent occupied, while 34.2 percent of hospitalized patients were being treated outside standardized facilities.



Community deaths also remain a major concern. Nearly two-thirds of confirmed deaths recorded in the latest week occurred outside treatment facilities, a sign of continued delays in detection, referral and access to care.



The agency continues to assess the risk of further spread within the DRC as "very high" and the risk to neighboring countries sharing land borders with it as "high."



The outbreak, declared in May, has become the largest and deadliest Ebola outbreak ever recorded in the DRC and the second-largest Ebola outbreak globally, after the 2014-2016 West Africa epidemic.